Child of the Golden Twilight
by Candyqueen-sama
Summary: What if when Midna shattered the mirror, she left with more than heartarche? With life growing in her womb how will she cope? What is she going to sacrifice when she fears for the safety of her own child. And how will this change Link who is all alone in Hyrule?
1. Prologue

Hi! So I don't own Zelda Twilight. Nothing. Not the characters, not the storyline, nothing!

First things first: I am German. Therefore I don't speak the English language as well as a native Englishman/Englishwoman. So I apologize for grammar and spell mistakes. Really I'm trying to improve, but one or two... or more mistakes may have slipped in. But since I got an awesome beta-reader, there shouldn't be too many mistakes.

Now I don't want to bore you with my tattle so let's begin!

**Child of the Golden Twilight**

**Gretchen Kemp**

**_"_**_There's this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo._

_It's the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me."_

Prologue

With the mirror my heart broke. Every fissure on the usually even mirror tore my heart into pieces. I stood there, in front of the slowly shattering mirror, where I would soon dissipate into small shadow particles. Knowing these were the last moments in Hyrule with no way back I glanced at Link, the man I gave my heart to, the man that saved me, the man that risked everything for my sake.  
Hurt, longing, confusion, shock and disbelief was present in his deep blue eyes- his eyes had a shade of blue I had never encountered in Twilight before, no shade of blue could compare to them, not the sky of the Light world, not the deepest depths of Lake Hylia. They had allured and intrigued me the first time I laid my own red-yellow eyes on them. His eyes spoke more than a thousand words. On our quest, the only thing I had to do to rebuild my courage was to look into his blue eyes which were so full of determination. They say the eyes are the mirror of a person's soul but not once on our quest they looked so... sad and depressed. Eyes which were once so determined, now seemed void of this determination. And I knew, it was my fault.

As I felt my own resolve wavering, I couldn't bear to look into his eyes anymore and turned away. To know I was the very reason for his current state of mind, it was beyond all bearing. The image,however, was burned into my soul: Blue eyes full of questions, confusion and not a hint of determination.

"Why?" His eyes asked. There wasn't time to answer, there weren't any words I could say. All I could do was stand there and wait for the inevitable. The mirror shattered and while glittering tiny pieces floated in the air like dust particles, his scream reached my ears. It was only an echo, but distinct and I know I shouldn't have done that to him. I had known before but wouldn't admit how much we meant to each other.

My whole being shook with pain. Was he hurting as much? Probably. And it was my fault. My fault. I hurt the man I loved more than any sword could.

When the realization struck me, my knees gave in and tears ran freely over my cheeks. The dry ground beneath me absorbed my salty tears like a sponge and I gave in to my despair and wailed, my cries of agony filling the surrounding area. When suddenly, pain blazed in my stomach. I gasped and held my stomach with my hands. The emotional stress and the pain became so much that I passed out amidst the shimmering mirror particles that once had been the only connection to my beloved one.

* * *

I hoped you liked it!

Reviews wanted!


	2. Chapter 1

_**Eleanor Roosevelt**_

_"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves._

_The process never ends until we die._

_And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."_

Chapter 1

I didn't know how I got into my chambers, but when I opened my arching eyes, I was back. At home, I wanted to say, but it didn't feel like home. The dark, empty room made me feel alone, not at home, although next to nothing had changed, except a chair stood next to my bed now. This was the room I grew up in. In this room my Mum tucked me in and was there when I awakened. It held many happy memories, but it didn't feel like home anymore.  
It hadn't been so long since I had slept in these rooms made for the Royal Family but right now it felt like a lifetime since I had been here. So much had happened in such a short period of time: I lost my Kingdom, was turned into an imp, nearly died twice, defeated countless monsters, Zant and Ganondorf, I found Love, only to loose it to regain my kingdom.

We, he and I, paid a huge price to save my people, to save his people, to save both of our worlds. I would never see him again, was it really worth it? Comparing my loss to thousands of lives I felt selfish. I knew it wasn't right to wonder about such a thing when you were a princess, but I did anyway: Did I do the right thing when I destroyed the mirror? Had it been necessary to do it? Or could Hyule and Twilight have lived peacefully next to each other? How long would this peace we worked so hard for last? Could I prevent another attempt to rule the Light world? Or my could successor?

Did I do the right thing at last? Part of me said: "Yes." It was the royal side of me, the princess. This was the identity I had always been. I was born and educated to be the princess.

The most important rules for a princess are: A princess must never put herself before her people.

She has to do everything in her power to make her people happy, even if it means that the princess herself would suffer.

A princess has to be a role model to her people. She must stand for reliability, selflessness, obedience and so much more, she was the face of the whole kingdom. There was no space for selfish needs.

If it was best for the kingdom to fight for it, the princess would fight for. If was best for the kingdom to jump down from the palace roof, the princess would jump. If it was best for the kingdom to marry a nobleman, the princess would marry. If it was best for the kingdom to sever all connections to the Light Realm, the Princess would be the one to sever all connections to the Light Realm. If it was best for the kingdom never to see her one and true love again, the princess would never see her one and true love again.

But although the princess in me knew she did the right thing, a small voice would ask: "Was it really necessary? Isn't the sacrifice too big? Why can't I be happy after all the things I've done for my kingdom?"

This voice developed on my quest with Link. I had been the Princess for my whole life. I was born a princess, brought up as a princess, treated like a princess. I was a princess my whole life. But with Link I no longer was the princess, who was treated with undying respect or given anything what she wanted. With Link I had just been Midna. _Midna, the imp_. He didn't know of my heritage... to a certain point, but he treated me like Midna a companion and friend...- okay he let me ride on his back and got me anything I wanted. However, he didn´t do it for the advantages of being a friend of a princess. No, Link did everything for me and his friends. He didn't care what my social status was or that a princess was riding on his back. He cared for me, for Midna. And I valued it much.

But right now I didn't know who I was anymore: the Princess or Midna. Before Zant´s leadership it was crystal-clear: I was the princess. After Zant's uprising I was just Midna. A hideous imp but I was my own person. I did what I wanted. I blushed slightly and smiled softly. I did what I wanted and now I wasn't able to do so anymore. It was a joke. As Midna I had travelled with Link to become once again the princess. But I wasn't sure if I still wanted to be the princess. I happened to like being Midna and just being Midna. No princess, just doing what I wanted without thinking about opinions of others and consequences of my actions.

Before I destroyed the mirror, I had had the choice: to be the Princess or Midna? I chose the way of living I lived my whole life, except for a few months. Now couldn't be Midna anymore, she was gone. It was expected of me to act like the Princess. Now I couldn't be Midna anymore, because the Princess wasn't Midna.

Without Link Midna wasn't simply Midna.

Sighing I sat down on a lone chair near the window and began to stare out of it. The mountains in the east were covered in a dark-blue-violet shade. In the mountains countless mines produced building materials and crystals and special ores, required for our magic. These majestic elevations casted a large shadow over the city and the planes north of the palace. The planes provided the whole kingdom with vital goods, like food and cloth. The food was not as good as the food from the Light world, but it was fit to eat as long as you didn't know anything else. Lake Twilia was located to the north west. A wonderful resort. The view was magnificent, the smooth surface of the water was reminiscent of the former Mirror of Twilight.

Was all of this really worth it? I was torn between my responsibilities as a princess and my selfish desires. I needed to be with him, but I couldn't, anymore. Not after what I had done. Not after what I decided but regretted so much.

I continued staring out of my window until the door opened and Kanad, a member of the Twilight Council, stepped into my room. He was a male Twilian of average height. His neck, though, was longer than those of other Twilians. If not for his overly long neck he would really short- in twilian standarts. His eyes had the common twilian eye-colour red. It was a dark shade of red, nearly a dark magenta. His robes (he had much cloth on him, a sign of a high living standart in the twilight realm as cloth was rather troublesome to make here) concealed his markings to a degree that you couldn´t make out the dark pattern on his pale skin, that varied between every Twili.

His eyes widened in surprise, as he saw me up, and bowed: "My apologies, Princess. We did not know you were up, yet. Otherwise I would have come much earlier. Your Highness, you seemed very exhausted, when we found you. It was very unsetteling for the guards to see our beloved princess lying on the floor after all that had happened. So I didn't expect you to be awake. My most sincere apologies, Princess."

I rolled my eyes at his apology. There wasn't any reason to apologize, I thought, he shouldn't expect me to chop his head off, because he wasn't there the moment I awoke. I didn't need any of that false caring. What did he thought I was? A monster?

"When the guards found you we expected the worst! It was quite a shock to find you passed out on the Mirror hill, unmoving. Speaking of it where is the Mirror of Twilight?"

Guild swept over me again and I looked at my feet: "I destroyed it for the better of our worlds."

I turned back to the window. Silence. Kanad probably waited for me to elaborate my point. But I continued staring out of the window, ignoring hid presence. I wasn´t in the mood to discuss this matter right now.

"So... If I am allowed to ask, what exactly happened. All of the sudden you were untraceable and Zant announced himself as new ruler of Twilight. Then he took the Sols away and everything went from bad to worse. All of the sudden the Sols were back again and Zant was away. We thought the Twilight was without a ruler and then you were here again and the mirror had been destroyed. What has happened?" he asked, in the end his voice had grown forceful and he took a step towards me. "Princess, I beg you, tell me. I need to know."

I had begun to massage my temples. I could feel a huge headache coming. Explaining everything to them? Being an Imp? Defeating Zant? Destroying the mirror? Okay I could manage that, but could I tell them of him? They deserved to know the truth, but would they understand? Would they accept that their princess was in love with a light dweller? Perhaps I should leave the rather private facts out of my tale. My thoughts drifted to a specific event just before my departing: his fingers were everywhere on my body...

I began to blush just as the arch blazed up again- stronger more forceful his time. I choked and quickly shoved my feelings away.

Gracefully, I turned to face him, my eyes were focusing on his and my voice held authority. "You will get your answers, but I will only tell once. I think the whole Council wants an answer, right? You shall arrange a meeting, in which everyone is present! I need some time to collect myself, so I expect everyone to be assembled in two hours."

"As you wish." Kenad bowed again and left my room.

As the door closed with a muffled sound I rose while sighing. _I will fix my hair for now. It's been ages since I washed it. Then I'll think about what to say and what not._

* * *

In the end I decided to tell them of Link, but I would only mention, that he was the Sacred Beast of the Legends. Which was partly true. Link was the Sacred Beast, but he was so much more: He was Link the goatherd, Link was the Chosen One of the Goddesses, Link was the Hero of Twilight, Link was the Conqueror of Zant and Ganondorf, Link was the Saviour of two Worlds, Link was my one and only true love.

When I exited my room I could already hear the busy mumbling down the hallways.

The halls, always crowded with busy servants, excited commoners, uptight guards and old academics, fell silent as I passed through them. Relief evident on all of their faces (although the guards tried their best to hide it). _Their Princess was back. Unharmed. Oh the irony. Their Princess wasn't harmed by the enemy. No. The one who had hurt her most was herself or rather the choice she hadmmade. Unharmed, yeah, right. On the outside it may seem that way, but on the inside I was destroyed beyond recognition. _For the sake of my people I needed to act as if everything was okay. This included a smiling mask and a chit-chat here and there. And again the perfect princess was back, the one who put her people's sake before her own sake.

"Your highness, it's so good to see you back!"

"What happened, if I'm allowed to ask?"

"How are you today, Princess?"

"I heard you passed out on the Mirror Hill, are you alright, your highness?"

Every question was answered with a smile and as truthful as necessary. It wasn't the people's task to worry about her princess, but it was the princess's task to worry about her people.

When I finally got to the door leading to the room where usually the Council meetings took place, I took a deep breath to set my mask back into place perfectly. A little surge of magic opened the door. Entering the room with my head held high I saw that no seat was vacanted. I couldn't remember the last time everyone was present. Just after I had taken over the kingdom, the fact that the not everyone was present had angered me very much, today I couldn't care less if anyone was present.

Everyone regarded me with the curiosity of a child. Their eyes shone with excitement and unspoken questions. Of course, why else would they have come if they hadn't interest in this meeting?

Coughing Kenad drew the attention of the assembled elders: "This meeting was called to inform all of us what happened after our beloved princess had vanished. Even my humble self wants to know this. So without any further interruptions I suggest to admit her highness the floor."

Nodding I sat down on my throne: "Thank you Kenad. Beforehand I want to announce that I will only tell you once. The aftermath of Zant´s treason was a very upsetting experience for me. I nearly died twice and... . Yeah. So please do nott interrupt me."

I took a deep breath and began my tale: "The day Zant betrayed me... no everyone of us, I was on the balcony. He approached me and with a sickening giggle he told me that it was time for me to leave and leave it to him to get revenge for the banishment from Hyrule. As I became aware of his treason I tried to stop him, but he was too powerful. He got his power from the embodiment of evil: Ganondorf bearer of the Triforce of Power. With this power he turned me into a weak, ugly imp. However, somehow I managed to escape into the realmof light. Zant had already stolen the Tears of Light so the land was covered in Twilight. With disgust I discovered that Zant used the inhabitants of Twilight as mindless slaves, the Shadow Beasts. For some time I wandered aimlessly around, trying to find a way to stop Zant. That was when I finally found hi... it. In the outskirts of Hyrule a province named Ordon is located. There I saw the Sacred Beast. You may have heard from it from legends so I..."

The Council began muttering.

"The Sacred Beast? That can not be possible!" a rich merchant stood up and shook his head.

"So the legends are true?" a slender woman asked clapping her hands together like a little child who just got a cookie.

"Are you really telling the truth? The Sacred Beast?"

"So it really exists? How exiting!"

I rose my hand to silence them. After this had no effect I rose my voice: "I said no interruptions! I really met the Sacred Beast! Why would I lie to you? Does anyone of you know better?"

It was silent again. Smiling I continued: "So where was I? Ahh... Right. I persuaded the Sacred Beast to help me defeat Zant. I had a plan: I wanted to defeat Zant with the aid of the Fused Shadows. Together we battled countless monsters and survived many hardships. When we finally obtained all four of them, Zant appeared. Somehow he subdued me and took the Fused Shadows. And with that not enough. He exposed me to the light of a holy light spirit and left me to die. From there I don't know much, but the Sacred Beast brought me to Zelda, the princess of Hyule. She sacrifices herself to save me by altering part of her life force and injecting it into me. With this I was able to exist in light without hiding in the shadows."

I got some green-eyed glances but proceeded with my slightly altered version of what happened: "We tried to get them back, but Zant was out of our reach in the Twilight Realm. He broke the mirror into six pieces. Figures he couldn't destroy it fully, because he wasn't the true ruler of Twilight. So we needed to gather the mirror shards. After defeating countless monsters, again, we accomplished even this task and set out to defeat Zant. In a dangerous fight we got the Fused Shadows back and with them I succeeded to kill Zant. But then we learned that Zant was merely a puppet and the mastermind, Ganondorf, was still out there. I was still a cursed imp and the only way to revert me back was to defeat Ganondorf. Eventually we achieved this, too. I was back to normal and shattered the Mirror of Twilight to prevent another attempt to overthrow both realms."

With that I ended my tale, leaned back into my comfortable throne and waited for their reactions.

* * *

Yeah. First chapter. Hope you liked it.

I would reaally like some reviews. One would make my day! Two would make me dance. And more? I would probably end up in the steet chanting happy songs while dancing!


	3. Chapter 2 Oh the joys of Pregnancy Part1

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Can you imagine how happy I was when I found out that I got my first 4 reviews on the first chapter? I really dance in the street. But I might have awoken the whole neighborhood in my euphoria.

Thank you so very much:** anon**, **marylizashrubs **and **LLink**!

And special thanks to **MisaChan89 **for posting the first review on this story and giving me my first review ever!

So I´ll now begin with Chapter 2! (I even took notes in History Class for it!...Not that I missed anything important. My teacher has the tendency to rample on a topic for hours, while others would only need 5 minutes.)

Chapter 2 Oh! The Joys of Pregnancy!

The council members had taken it quite well, although it sounded quite unbelievable. I guess I wouldn't have believed myself, either. But with the whole crazy stuff going on, the council believed me and I was reinstated as the righful ruler of Twilight. And with that came the ceremony. O the joy, bless the dude who came up with this stupid traditions.

_To let the nobles and commoners know that their princess is back. _Kenad had argued.

Yeah. Now I sat here to supervise the preparations for the ceremony. _To make sure I was pleased with the results. What goatshit! _Why did I have to oversee the preparations for my celebration. I had better things to do, like... sitting in my room and brooding. _Good one, Midna. _Oh well might just do it right here. Who knew it could be slightly more interesting than sitting in my room alone._  
_

Sighing I watched the buzzing activity in the throne room. _My throne room._ I reminded myself. It hadn't changed much since Zant ascended the throne. The same old blueish-grey walls with the same old turquoise shining runes. The same dusty old, dark cloths "adorning" the walls. Even the ancient huge useless fake-candelabrum hanging from the ceiling was still there. The same old lightstones were hidden in the ceiling to illuminate the room in the same old way it was done centuries ago. The floor shimmered as if someone poured oil onto black water. _Obsidian. _The Princess remarked. _Obsidian refined with crystal-threats. One of... _Anyway the _obsidian_ floor was being polished beyond recognition. By now it could easily be used as a dinner plate for a noble family ..._ but nobles don´t eat on the floor__. _The Princess piped in. No not the usual noble but I had already eaten on the floor and not on such a spick and span obsidian floor, but on the dirty ground.

_And I had enjoyed it, every single second of it. Even if i I hadn't admitted it. At first I thought it was kind of dirty to sit on the ground, but eating there had its charm. In coparism to eating flavourless food in fancy dining rooms with the company of silent Twil, eating crunchy bread with goat-cheese or grilled fish on the ground with Link was awesome! _I stopped my train of thought and shook my head. _You decided to forget him. You will never see him again. You will never talk to him again. You will never touch him again, never feel his rough skin rubbing against yours, never feel his soft, unruly hair. Never again will your lips meet, never... _I felt unshed tears burning behind my eyelids and quickly supressed the longing.

_Not here. Not in front of half the royal household. You know how fast their gossiping network is! You don't want to embarass youself. Concentrate Midna. You won't cry. _I reprimanded myself. To ease the headarche I began rubbing my temples.

"Your highness? Is anything displeasing you?" A dwarfish, plump servant asked. "If there is anything we could to for you it would be our pleasure to honor your wishes."

Abruptly I stopped rubbing my temples and slowly rose from my seat. Something inside my head cracked and with wild gestures I screeched: "No! It´s alright! Everything is alright! The hell not! Let me begin with the room. This whole room is so something more... colourful hurt anyone? Some red here, some yellow there. Why not paint this whole grey cave orange? And what's with these dusty rags there on the wall? Who wants to even look at these, yet alone stare at them every single day! Why do they actually hang here?"

The Twili in front of me had already covered his head with his arms and shuddered heavily. Everyone was frozen on the spot whatever activity they had been doing. "I asked you a question!" I screamed in my rage.

"The-the-he-hese we-r-r-re pa-pa-passed down in the-he-he royal fam-ily fo-hor cen-tu-tu-turies. A hei-rloom fro-from your ance-cestors." He answered in stutters. How could it be so hard to just formulate a normal sentence?

"Sorry. I couldn't quite get that. Would you mind to repeat what you have just said?"

The dwarf took in some breath to calm himself and squeked: "These were passed down in the royal family for centuries. A heirloom from your ancestors."

"Interesting." I admitted. "May I enquire your name?"

"Zwrop" He risked a glance in my direction.

With a wide grin I brought my face towards his. "And why, dear Zworp, would I care? They are all dead! They won't die again, if these tatters were exchanged for something new, right?"

Everyone nodded. "Good. While we at it. Would anyone mind getting this useless candelabrum out of my sight? Thank you all very much! And who cleaned the floor so much that I'm blinded by it? If you want to make this room brighter you shouldn't polish the floor but rather let some light from the sols through the windows! We already have so little to begin with, why would be shut it out?"

Zworp raised a finger like a little child waiting for aprove to speak.

"Yes? What is it?"

"The light from the sols is already used for the crops. However, if you insist we could possibly let some of it in, so..."

Right. This wasn´t the Light World. This was the Twilight Realm and it was without sunlight. There were only the sols and everyone needed their light for food. I wanted to feel light again. Wanted to be in the Light World again. Wanted to be with Link again. I wanted my light back.

The pain came back and I felt the tears trying to escape my eyes again.

_Not here._

_You already made a fool of yourself. You are supposed to be a princess._

_Stop._

"Please excuse me and my childish behavior from before. Do continue, everything is fine. Forget what I just said, I'm not myself today. I'll leave in your able hands since I have some unfinished business to attend to." With that I stroaded out of the room to find a spot, where I could cry alone.

* * *

The throne room was after my mental breakdown in-recognisable. The servants did a great job, even though I told them to ignore my wishes. Perhaps they had also thought the room needed a new touch. The rags had been replaced by lighter coloured new banners. The candelabrum was finally removed and the room didn't seem as depressing as it was before.

Zworp stood fidgeting in a corner and nervously awaited my reaction.

Smiling brightly I commended: "This is very good. Bye bye, depressing atmosphere! Hello new throne room! Everyone of you did a great job. Thank you, all!"

Zworp seemed a bit taken aback by my gratitude. It was not common that higher ups thanked the servants for something they ordered them to do. This was habit I picked up in the light world. People preferred serving someone who was nice to them than serving someone that wouldn't even want to breath the same air as a commoner.

"Right. Sir Kenad informed me that dinner shall be served in ten minutes in the second dining room. It would be a great honor for me to escort you there." Zworp offered while twirling his fingers behind his back.

_Second dining room? Where was that again? _With its thousands of rooms and ten dining rooms the palace was hard to navigate in especially if one hadn't been here for more than six month. And I wouldn't mind the company.

"That would be very nice. I don't mind company. So shall we go?" I asked and turned to the exit.

Nodding Zworp opened the door for me and we went to dining room number two.

* * *

The second dining room did not really differ from the former throne room. The same spectrum of colours, the same depressing atmosphere. Of course it didn't look similar. This was a dining room, not the throne room, so there were some differences, like the long, sleek table that was in the centre of the room. About thirty chairs stood around the table, most were already occupied with elected nobles. I knew few, all of them knew me. Therefore everyone went silent when I entered the room. Not until I sat down in the fanciest chair, the talks were resumed.

The seat next to me was already occupied. The Twili was a tall, slender woman I recognised: Lady Dima. I knew her from several encounters on exquisite parties. She wasn't a friend of mine, but I got along with her. And that was quite rare, since in my earlier days as princess I wasn't the easiest person to get along with. She had a similar sense of humor and on these parties we used to laugh about the most ridiculous garments. Usually to the richest had the most ridiculous fashion sense.

"Good evening Princess. It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Lady Dima started the conversation and turned toward me with an interested look.

"Yes indeed, Lady Dima. Since Zant's reign I have had my hands full. It's a shame we haven't even heard of each other." I said while leaning back into my chair.

"It would have made my day brighter if I had heard from you Princess."

_Sure. And what's with everyone calling me princess? I have__ a name. _I thought.

"Just Midna, please." I corrected her.

"As you wish, Lady Midna. So how are you?" she asked me in a friendly tone.

"I've been better. Fighing against Zant and Ganondorf and rebuilding the Twilight Realm has really taken its toll on me. I wish I got a hiatus or something like that. It's been ages since I've relaxed. Lately I have been feeling more and more exhausted. But enough of me, how are you?"

"Everyone is feeling slightly uneasy, but otherwise everything is fine. Recently, my husband bought a leisure residence near the west shore of Lake Twilia. It's not very pompous, but comfortable and cute. We thought that it might relieve some stress to go there for some time. Perhaps you should go to Lake Twilia, too. They say it's the most relaxing place there is in Twilight! I heard that the royal family already has a residence there. I think you should go, if you are feeling so stressed." I could see it was a honest suggestion.

"That´s a wonderful idea, but the kingdom needs me right now. I can take a break, when everything has calmed down."

For the next minutes we continued our chat, while the dining room was slowly filled with nobles. The other seat next to me was taken by Kenad. He was discussing the costs of rebuilding the mountain passages with the head of the leading building company of the whole Twilight Realm.

Then the servants carried viands and placed them before the nobles: exquisite fish extremely hard to fish out of lake Twilia, various small birds and little fruits from the planes, a traditional soup of the mountain tribes. There even was whine. For a meal in the Twilight Realm this was a gigantic feast. Because of the lack of sunlight crops didn't grow as fast, big and delicious as in Hyrule. And whine was rare. Grapes needed so much sunlight, that it was nearly impossible to grow them. But a famous scientist found out, that a special kind of magic had the same effect on plants as sunlight. Because of this discovery the agricultre had boomed. The speed and growth had increased by 50% and finally grapes could be used for whine. A small percentage that is.

But an exquisite meal in the Twilight Realm wouldn't even be good enough for commoners in Hyule. Crops here didn't seem to have any taste if you were used to rich flavours. The first time I ate a simple piece of bread there, I was overwhelmed. If you ate something in Hyrule you didn't eat it because otherwise you would starve, but because you could enjoy eating. A mindset that would never exist in the Twilight Realm. Here you either ate or you would starve. Good food was far too expensive to eat everyday, even the royal family couldn't afford something like this everyday. To cut to the chase: Food from Hyrule was heaven for any Twili. For nearly half of the last year I ate this food and I got used to the full taste. So I didn't really look forward to eating this stuff, while everyone else in the room was staring hungrily at the _food._ _Why me?_

But I found myself quite hungry the whole day and something inside me told me I needed to eat much. To eat? Or not to eat? What a troblesome question...

This entire time I was so much in thought that I didn't notice the expectant looks of the nobles until Lady Dima nudged me. I was expected to inauguate the meal.

Quickly I rose... "Oh. Thank you all for turning up... eh coming here. You can begin to eat." ... and quickly sat down again.

The most promise showed the fish. So it was the first thing I took. As exspected it tasted like nothing at all, but at least it was eatable. Lady Dima and Kenad seemed thrilled about it, so it had to be really good... for a Twili´s toungue- a Twili´s toungue that never ever tasted light food before. Ergo everyone except poor me.

I pretended I was eating some really awesome fish from Hyule like the famous and rare Hylian Loach. With enough imagination I should have been able to boost up the taste enormously. But the positive effect didn't come, and on top of that I now wanted some Hylian Loach. I craved for a soft bread filled with Hylian Loach, or a slice of goat cheese, or carrot salad with strawberries and milk... wait where did that come from? Carrot salad with strawberries and milk? The longer I pondered this thought the more appealing it became to me. Carrot salad with strawberries and milk, why hadn't anyone tied this, yet?

Lost in my thoughts I didn't notice I finished the fish, ate another piece of it, two birds and three plates of the soup.

* * *

The next morning I found myself kneeling over the toilet.

When I had woken up I felt suddenly as if I had eaten tons of spoiled fruits. Every wave of nausea brought another wave of undigested food about. In the end was was exhausted, the toilet looked as if it hadn't been cleaned for years. Finally, I laughed, the food had found its righful place: the toiled! But the feelings of triumph against the nasty food were short-lived. My limbs felt like jelly-go and my whole body felt very cold.

Exhausted I leaned against the wall. Why did this happen? I certainly hadn't eaten spoiled food, because food was thoroughly checked before it was served to nobles and the royal family.

Maybe I got ill? But Twili usually didn't get sick and the chance was even more slim with Twili that used magic as much as I did. Me being sick was simply not possible. Was it because part in me had light magic? Was this a side effect of Twili magic merging with magic of the light? Not once had there been anyone with both types combined inside them. But if this was really a side effect of being partly light, why hadn't I felt this sick when Zelda gave me part of her life?

Question and questions and no answer was in sight. My head calculated different possibilities only to come up with another bunch of questions. _I won't solve it now. I'd better clean this mess up, before someone sees this and worries._ I thought while I began channeling magic to get the whole puke into the toilet to flush it away.

Thoughtful I regarded the grayish mud swirling and being compressed by the flush mechanism and then finally disappearing.

* * *

There is it.

Midna´s showing the first signs of pregnancy!

I really enjoy reading reviews, so if you want me be happy and motivated give me some!


	4. Chapter 3 Oh the joys of Pregnancy Part2

Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Just to tell you at first I was a littel bit disappointed when I hadn't any reviews on the day I posted Chapter 2.

But then I saw I had gotten 2 reviews on Thursday!

Thanks to **Mercy At Dawn** and **Lanydx!**

I tried to slow the pace the story is going a little, but I think I only suceeded a little bit. And I will continue to try.

Anyway enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 3 Oh the Joys of Pregnancy Part II

With each day it got worse: the _sickness_. Still I didn't believe it was a sickness. It was more than that. So much more. Something inside me told me I should be happy about it. But who would be? Who would like to wake up every morning only to puke one's gut out and would shove disgusting food like there was no tomorrow inside oneself, as if nothing happened. I knew at some point everything would come out again, but somehow I didn't care. I didn't care that the food tasted like nothing. I just ate and ate. Seriously, by now I expected that the financial magistrate, Telop, would come to me and tell me that the cost for my food were too high. It was weird even in Hyule I didn't eat as much and their food was delicious! Unfortunately, my eating habits made me expand like yeast dough, although most didn't stay inside to be digested. And that made me worry the most.

Since my first puking experience I've had a quite good theory: I couldn't tolerate Twili food anymore, because I had eaten food that grew with much sunlight. So I puked. Because my body felt it didn't have enough to disgest I ate much more to make up for it. Why I got fatter? In this aspect no plausible solution crossed my mind. Okay I had many hypothesises: My body might just store nutriens for an emergency. Yoyo-dieting. Water retentions. Lack of sleep. Stress. But none of these explanations seemed to fit. Therefore my theory wasn't plausible.

So I was back to square one. Should I go to the healer? When I didn't have an answer he probably knew something. It was their job, so they should know. But I didn't want them to tell me to rest. At the moment the Twilight Realm was in a fragile state and I was a pillar that held it in place. To take a break now was the most inappropriate moment there was.

"Princess?"

Shaking my head I regarded the owner of the voice. It was Lerit, the organ of the commoners. It was him who presented the daily peck of trouble of the commoners. Lately it had been more than ever. The population was still on edge, because of Zant's reign. Many lost family members. They were abducted and turned into Shadow Beasts. I felt very guilty, because Link and I killed them ultimately. There had been no other way. They were corrupted and not themselves anymore. But I often wondered if there had been another way. Maybe they could have been freed. Maybe they could have been with their families at the moment.

What had been done was done. There was no way I could go back in time and reverse this.

"Sorry. I was in thought. What was it again?" I asked politely while flashing Lerit a sweet grin. He seemed exhausted. Poor Lerit. All alone with the problems of the commoners. I didn't want to see his office filled to the brim with letters and paperwork. _I might as well assign him a helping hand since getting rid of the fears and troubles of the commoners was our first priority._

"I said, that because of the agricultural crisis the people don't have enough to eat. The prices rise with each passing day and families lost many so they don't have enough money. We were discussing to contribute food and give it to those who are in need of it." He explained with a serious face.

_Your people don't have enough to eat and you go and eat everything only to puke it out later. Maybe you are the reason for the shortage of food._

"Okay. We should do that."

"But princess!" Telop, the financial minister, shouted. "Such measures! We don't have the money! We need the money to re-erect the trading routes and reconstruct the palace. It isn't back to his former glory."

"What good does a shiny palace do when there's no population to marvel at it. What good does the trade do, if the population has not even the money to buy food. Why would they buy shiny gems? I say we cut the costs for rebuilding the palace and the trading routes to feed the population. After that we can re-erect the trade and other necessary things, but the palace comes last. We have enough to live a good life in the palace. We will relinquish shiny things in the near future. It is most important that the people survive." At the end of my speech I nearly shouted. It was important that the council got my point.

"Princess this is ridiculous! We need to reclaim our status. For this a palace is needed not a ruin!" A council member from the other end of the room shouted.

With an icily glare I made him shut up. "Everyone who thinks this way is way too selfish to be a member of the Council. When you accepted the position as a member of the Council you swore an oath. Everyone of you swore to act on behalf of the Twilight Realm. In the Twilight Realm are living more than one hundred thousand people and only fivehundred nobles. So if you think the nobles come first, then you aren't fit to be a member of the Council. We decide what's best for the population despite our own wishes. The next time I hear something so selfish from anyone here, he or she will lose the position as a member of the Council. Did I make myself clear?"

All of the coucillers nodded quickly. "So are there any objections against the proposition of Lerit?"

When no one rose their and I sat down satisfied. "Very well. Now onward to the next problem."

* * *

Meetings with the Council really tired me. Inside my chambers I fell onto my bed. It grew even more exhausting everyday. And wasn't only the meetings. Every trivial activity tired me. The walk from the meeting room to my chambers. Sitting in the throne room and holding audiences. Arguing with the Council. The trips around the kingdom. Opening doors, generally casting magic.

Why was this happening? I couldn't leave my duties behind. I needed to be there and nothing would stop me! Even if I was so exhausted that I couldn't move anymore.

_Some princess you are. If you can't move you won't be of any use to your people. Think! You are only making it worse. You know it your temper got worse and your decisions aren't very thoughtful. You decide everything according to instinct, think rational!_

_Grr... Just shut up! I'm doing everything right! No one should starve. It was the right decision._

_How long will you provide the population with food? The money should go to the farms. That's where the problem lies. You are being to emotional! Yes, it's sad that they are hungry, but you have to find solutions for the future!_

_I know that!_

_If you know that, why don't you do it? From what I've seen you have been a fastidious little girl trying to rule a kingdom._

_I'm not! I'm trying to do the best for my people! But I'm too exhausted..._

_You say it. At the moment you are too exhausted to do a good job. Take a break._

_Not now. When I can't go on anymore, who will? Twilight needs me right now. Not in a month!_

To this I got no response. But the princess me was right, but I was right too. Gah! This was so frustrating. I should relax for now. I would get better.

I closed my eyes and shifted to my side. When I got comfortable my thoughts began to wander. Something was missing. The warmth. I felt so cold. Suddenly I wished to lie next to him. I wanted to feel his fur against my back. I wanted to snuggle into his warm soft fur. I thought of the countless nights we camped outside: on the hard stony floor of Death Mountain, on the soft grass of Hyrule Field, in the cold snow of Snow Peak, in the dry sand of the Gerudo Desert, thousands of metres in the air, near the shore of lake Hylia.

He was always in his feral form because it was more cut for sleeping outside. His fur protected him from the weather and his heighened senses warned us of every danger. Only in the beginning of our journey when we didn't have the luxury to change him whenever we pleased, did he sleep in his human form. We had some close calls with monsters and he didn't sleep very well.

But there was one time more he slept with me in his human form: after the defeat of Ganondorf we thought it would be best to relax a little bit for all of us were exhausted. At first everyone of us had their own separate room, but when neither me or Link could sleep without one another I sneaked into his room. He was also awake and smile at me when I came up to him. He lifted the blanket and I got under it.

I don't know why it went out of hand, maybe because everything was over, maybe because I was back in my normal form, or a whole different reason. Anyway we ended up with both of our bodies exposed on the floor. There we... loved each other. Not a very romantic location but it fit. After we spend all of our nights together on the floor, why shouldn't we spend our last night together there, too. Of course this tiny fact wasn't known to him at that time but I was very aware of it. Maybe I wanted this night to be special. It was wonderful: his fingertips on my skin, mine on his, his lips on my skin, mine on his.

I smiled at the memory and at the same time I was infinitely sad that I felt tears on my cheeks. I wanted him back so bad! Why had I destroyed the mirror again? Right now I felt so devastated I had done that. I will never see him again. Why was I so stupid. Such a stupid princess! Why did I need to be a princess? I never asked for it! Just because my father was king didn't have to mean I needed to be a ruler, too! I wanted to be a normal girl. I wanted to be with Link, the goat herder. I wanted to be next to him when he came home to eat a home-cooked meal from me. Why wasn't I allowed to lead such a simple life? Why couldn't somebody else be the princess?

I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Link. Wanted to marry him, bear his children, lead a happy life. Why couldn't I have this, after what I had done for both Realms? Shouldn't the damn goddesses be thankful to me that I helped their hero? Couldn't they make another mirror? Just that I could leave everything here behind, give the title as ruler to someone more fit.

"If you can, just tell me!" I shouted.

But no answer came. Of course this land was abondoned by them. How could I have expected an answer.

Defeated I let sleep claim me with the thought that I would puke tomorrow again. Oh the joy!

* * *

That was it for the time being. I hope you liked it and I hope for reviews!


	5. Chapter 4 Realizations

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Hello again!

Thank you, all readers, reviewers and those who added my story to the favorites and alerts!

**MicaChan89** Danke für das Review! Es ist wundervoll zu hören, dass du auch auch aus dem Norden kommst! Wir Schleßwig-Holsteiner müssen ja zusammen halten!

**Mercy at Dawn** Thanks to you too and thanks for pointing the mistakes out. There were a little more than one tiny mistake, but many more... I guess I forgot the spelling-corrector in the end. And I fixed the number problem. It hadn´t occurred to me that it would cause confusion, I am always a little lazy and I´m not that experienced with writing numbers out.

**LoveandZelink** Thank you so much! I´m really proud that you like my fic so much. I already thought of writing a Link PoV, but I wasn´t sure. But now that you said it, I got a nice idea. So I put a Link PoV in this chapter, otherwise I would have been too short The gender of the baby? I think you have to be patient. In the Zelda world they don´t have ultrasonic sound techniques, so they need to wait for the baby to be born. Don´t be disappointed, the chance is 50/50 that the baby is your preferred gender!

Chapter 4 Realizations

For many weeks my daily routine went as follows: I usually got up with the slight rise of light, which Twili called solrise. Then I ran to the toilet to vomit my dinner. After this rather unpleasant aspect of the morning I got ready for my duties: I made my hair, put my royal garments on, washed my face and most important purified my teeth and mouth. With a fresh feeling I went to breakfast. I was always looking forward to it, only to be disappointed to eat tasteless food, but I ate everything up just like a good little child. Breakfast was followed by boring princess-duties: Arguing with the councillors, talking with the commoners, signing important documents, like authentications for the new fountain in the town square, or representing the government by walking around and waving mindlessly. After these exhausting activities I attended a formal dinner with nobles. Sometimes they were sympathetic people but in the majority of cases they were dopes. Then I was eventually allowed to go to bed with the promise of another usual day just as I described.

Of course they were some changes, too. The Twilight Realm wasn't as scared as before anymore. The population took courage once again and the kingdom was on its best way to recover. I even managed that the Council was at least bearable, but the most striking change was the mutation of my usually so wonderful flat stomach to a watermelon. I thought this would effect me much more, but I couln't care less. I had much more important worries, as for example the sickness, rebuilding Twilight or my love sickness.

Sometimes I wondered if Link suffered as much as I did. On the one hand side he wasn't the guilty party that destroyed our fragile relationship. He didn't have to devote hours to rebuild a whole kingdom, he hadn't the responsibility to please everybody and not even the responsibility for the population of a whole kingdom. On the other hand side he had to live with the betrayal and the fact that he killed many and saved many. He had to live with the worship of being a hero and the blood on his hands that had came with it. He had to deal with the adoration from little boys and cute little crushes from little girls.  
I chuckled. Him? He was as meek as a mouse. I couldn't imagine him being comfortable while being praised nonstop by endless people. He wouldn't enjoy it at all, he couldn't even go back to the life he had had before the invasion. His old peaceful life as a shepherd, I imagined, would feel non-relevant. I knew he was a restless soul. Always on the lookout for a reason to live. He needed an adventure, now that he'd gotten a taste of it.

No matter how you look at it. I didn't come to a conclusion. It didn´t matter. Fact was both of us suffered, I was responsible and both of us had to bear the consequences.

Absent-minded I put my hands on my watermelon-like stomach as I wondered about his life beyond the non-existent mirror. However, a movement under my hands disrupted my thoughts.

_Huh?_ Was that my imagination? Or did my stomach prepare for another celebratory-puking? Probably. Why would my stomach suddenly become alive? No way! I was getting insane.

Another movement. Somehow it felt like a kick. As if something wanted to get out. No way! How would a living being get into my stomach? I must be getting insane!

I began chuckling, I had grown insane from all this strain on my mind. Not bad, then I would get a break. Another kick. "Hey you there in there. It's rather rude to be kicking a princess, you know?"

The response? Another kick. Now, I couldn't be imagining four kicks inside my stomach, so... was there really someone inside me? No way, unless...

* * *

_~ Link and me naked~_

_~My bulging stomach~_

_~"Daddy, look! The woman over there is super fat!"  
"Midna! Inside her is the future of our country: a baby."  
"Really? Babies make women super fat?"  
"Yes, they do. And they turn women into feral beasts, when you insult them. So you better don't tell them that they are fat into their face."~  
_

_~His kisses and hands, the aspiration.~_

_~"Link, I want you".~_

_~ "Mommy, what is it like to have to have a baby in you?"  
"Midna, darling. It's not one of the nicest experiences. You are constantly in bad moods, but worst are the morning sicknesses: every morning you would vomit, but in the end you will be rewarded."  
"Yucky. I never wanna haave a baby inside me!"  
"Oh, honey you will, when time comes."  
"No! My baby will come out of thin air!" ~_

_~ His hot ragged breath. "I want you, too"~_

* * *

I couldn't be pregnant, right? But as much as I couldn't believe it, I couldn't deny it. Everything I experienced in the last weeks was proof of my pregnancy.

_Well, goatshit. What to do now?_

* * *

**On the other side of the non-existent mirror** (Link PoV)

It had been three month, two weeks, four days and seventeen hours, since she shattered the mirror, my heart and my reason to live.

Sometimes I looked more like a zombie than a human being, as Ilia had nicely put it. I thought this was quite fitting as I felt like one.

After I had saved Hyule and Twilight from perish by the hands of Ganondorf, I was overwhelmed with praise, gifts and adoration. But not one thing of this was what I wanted. At first I thought I did everything to save the children and Ilia, but that wasn't true. I had already accomplished this halfway through my journey. After this I thought I did it for Princess Zelda, myself, Hyule and because it was my destiny. I realized, when I thought Midna had died by the hands of Ganondorf, that I did everything for her sake. Hyrule didn't matter anymore. It was vengeance that drove me in my fight with Ganondorf and when I saw that she was okay I was so happy.

The moment we met again on top of the hill, I realized we loved each other. I had never thought it would end with the mirror shattered and the two of us being separated by her tear. I understood she thought this would be the best for her people and Hyrule's people. I admired her how much her people meant to her, while I hated it that we had to suffer for their safety and joy. I wanted to be with her even if it meant the end of both worlds.

I knew I was being selfish, but I couldn't change that. _I am who I am._

"Link! Would you help me with the goats?" Fado shouted outside of my tree-house.

Sighing I rose. Herding goats. That was something I came to despise and enjoy. I wanted something more challenging, but it was a nice distraction. Daily I tried to break my record. It was kind of liberating riding Epona and herding the goats.

It would be more fun doing it in my wolf-form, but that would put the poor animals on the edge and blow my cover.

Another thing I came to despise and enjoy: the black-orange stone, that had the ability to turn me into a wolf. It was liberating to be a wolf and run through the fields and forests as a wolf with no rules and limits holding you back. I was wild and free. But every time I saw the stone I thought of her. So it was a double-edged sword risky to use since I didn't want anyone to find out about my more feral side.

I already sat on Eponas back and together we trotted through Ordon village. The village didn't change much and it was the only place I could stand staying. Everywhere else in Hyrule I was only the hero, but here I could be Link. For this I loved the village. I helped everyone and tried to hold my bad temper in. However, everyone saw something was wrong but they let it be and I was thankful for it.

When the children saw me they decided to follow me to the ranch. They loved to observe me herding the goats and after herding the goats I showed them some tricks sometimes or let them sit on Epona. They enjoyed it and so did I.

"Ah there you are, Link! Let's see if you can beat your record from two weeks ago." Fado shut the gates and accompanied the children behind the fence.

It began with the shout "Go!" and Epona and me went after the goats. It was fun, but we were finished too quickly.

"Great work, Link. Only one second behind your record." Fado announced.

"That was awesome, Link!" Talo shouted. "Show me how to do that."

"Talo, shut up. Herding the goats is Links job." Beth scolded Talo. "And there's no way you could beat Link, cause he is a natual at herding goats, right, Colin?"

"Yeah. Dad said there hasn't been a better one in Ordon history." Colin nodded.

"Shut up! We should go to Link and see what we will do today instead of fighing."

This was accepted with nods and the children ran to me.

_Now what to show them? Most things would make Talo go on a new dangerous adventure. But they know the harmless things already._

I looked in Eponas direction. _Maybe..._

But Epona gave me her _'Are you kidding me?' _look and turned away.

_Traitor! So dumping them with Epona was out of the question.  
_

_Well, goatshit. What to do now?_

* * *

Hehehe! That was fun. I really enjoyed writing the parts with the children. The ones in Midnas flashbacks and the one in Link PoV.

So Midna knows now and you know how Link is.

I didn´t want to make him so much emo, because he is a man and men aren't that emotional as women. So it was quite difficult for me to write Links PoV as he is a creature of the mysterious sex. Honestly I don't know what males think. They are just so odd. Don't be insulted, my male readers, but you think the same of us: odd and not understandable.

* * *

Hehehe! That was fun. I really enjoyed writing the parts with the children. The ones in Midnas flashbacks and the one in Link PoV.

So Midna knows now and you know how Link is.

I didn´t want to make him so much emo, because he is a man and men aren´t that emotional as women. So it was quite difficult for me to write Links PoV as he is a creature of the mysterious sex. Honestly I don´t know what males think. They are just so odd. Don´t be insulted, my male readers, but you think the same of us: odd and not understandable.


	6. Chapter 5 Resolve

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

HI there, folks!

Did anyone notice that Midna's and Link's POV ended with the same thought? I gotta tell you guys how proud I was of myself as I accomplished such an amazing task! Yeah, but enough of my awesomeness and let's come to thank the awesomeness of the reviewers!

**LoveandZeLink** Hehe... I´m glad you liked it. The reason I didn´t make Link emo is I already read so many fics with Link emo because of Midna´s bye bye. So I thought hey why not make Link not an emo... It´s not like you would turn into an emo when your boyfriend would go into another realm and never come back again besides Link is a man. Not any man. He saved Hyule! And he will be daddy.

**Ezzaria26** Glad you liked it. As for my incompetence with words, ehhh how to say. Even in my mother tongue (German) I´m not a word-goddess, on the contrary: I suck at German. Really, it´s my worst subject in school! So I´m not great with English words either. (I have to look up like every fifth word!) A beta-reader would be nice, but unfortunately I don´t know how to get one... Perhaps I should just ask^^

**!**

**I need a beta-reader! Is there someone?**

**!  
**

**Cazu **Yeah... Thanks for the support! And as you see here is more! Tadaaa!

**Insane. certifiably** I loved that part, too! Hmm. Is there going another mirror? No, there won´t be a mirror, but perhaps another connection? Who knows? How Link will find out? The question is: Will Link ever find out? When there´s no mirror. I´ll tell you: It´s a secret. Sorry, but I can´t tell. I may be bad at keeping secrets, but this is something you have to find out with the other readers! Just be patient.

Chapter 5 Resolve

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul."

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

_I was pregnant. _I thought. _I really was pregnant._

After the shock had passed I sprinted to the library. I read every book there was on pregnancy in a little bit more than two hours. Amazing feat, right? Okay there weren't that many on pregnancy as the library consisted mostly of historical and political documents, magic instructions and religious texts. Most of them focused on the three goddesses: Din, Nayru und Farore since they banished us from the light world. _  
_The goddesses were a delicate issue. Twili despised the goddesses, because they hated us and played favourites with us and the Hyulians, but when you despised something you couldn't deny its existence. So Twili hadn't other gods as the Hyrulians. We knew that our gods didn't want us and blamed us for our ancestors mistakes. Some Twili longed for gods that loved us and created their own gods. But they didn't catch on, because deep inside everyone of us knew there were already three goddesses and they wouldn't allow other deities other than themselves. So Twili continued despising the goddesses, but I thought they only wanted them to acknowledge us and receive their blessing once again.

But back to the topic at hand. I was pregnant and everything I read about pregnancy matched my condition. Every tiny little detail. But I still couldn't believe it. All of it sounded much more like a fairy tale. A story you told little children as bedtime story, but it didn't seem like reality. It was all too much of a coincedence. Seriously, this was stuff for a fairy tale:

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She had everything she could wish for: jewels, a big castle, a population that loved her and servants that lipread all her wishes. But the princess wasn't satisfied, she felt lonely, although she wouldn't admit that. So she lived the more or less happy life of a princess, until a dark sorcerer cursed her and took her kingdom.  
The princess, now in the form of an ugly imp, fled and found a being that was only mentioned in legends: The sacred beast. It was said that one day when the kingdom needed it most, it would rise and save the kingdom from evil. Together the princess and the beast lived through many hardships and eventually defeated the evil. As the evil magic disappeared the princess recovered her beauty and the beast fell in love with her. They loved each other so much that the princess soon had a child. And they lived happily even after."

_But this was reality and there wasn't a happy end. _I thought depressed._ If life was fairy tale, everything would be wonderful. But life was a bitch: The princess couldn't see her beast again, and the beast wouldn't even know of his own child._

But that wasn't the worst aspect of my pregnancy. I knew the Twili and they wouldn't accept an offspring of a light-dweller. Even when this child was the child of their princess, no they would hat it especially when this child was the next in line for the throne. Twili hated the light-dwellers, they were jelous. Hyrilians had everything Twili could only wish for: the sun, good food, a colourful world and most important the blessing of the goddesses.

Hyrulians had goddesses they could worship, but Twili had goddesses they could only hate.

It was logical that they wouldn't want a reminder living with them much less be their ruler someday. My baby would have the blessings of the goddesses. Its father was bearer of the triforce. The Council would probably murder my child just after its first breath. They would keep my pregnancy secret and... murder it in cold blood. I would have to accept this because it was my duty. My duty as princess.

This thought killed me inside. My own baby would be killed. Its destiny was definte. Such an innocent being would be killed. I couldn't let that happen. I had always wanted a child, although the aspect of pregnancy wasn't appealing, I wanted to be a mum. I wanted to have a child I could call my own and see it growing up. I longed to hold the baby in my arms, feel the warmth it would radiate and hear his soft breath. Everything in me screamed I couldn't let my child die.

But a small voice whispered _And your duties as princess? You are the princess of the Twilight and have no right to choose your child's destiny. It's the same when you destroyed the mirror. You didn't want to do it, but in the end you did it. For the sake of your people. Do it again._

_You may be right._ I answered._ My duties as a princess wouldn't allow me to have my baby..._

"But right now my duties lie elsewhere. I may have duties to my people, as a princess, but right now I have a more important duty to my child, as a mother._"_

* * *

Because you liked Link PoV so much I even did another one!

"So I took my claw shots and with their help I was able to climb the pillars quickly. When I reached the top the dragon was right in front of me. His breath reeked as if it hadn't brushed its teeth for ages. Then I connected my claw-shot with its tail. I hung there forty feet above the ground, but the dragon wouldn't fall down. I wasn't heavy enough." I paused and looked straight into the widen eyes of the children that had seated themselves in a semi-circle around me.

As they registered I paused Talo asked eager to know what happend next. "And then?"

I smiled. "What would you have done?" I asked everyone.

Of course Talo was the first to answer. "I would have shot it with my bow and then..."

"But Talo." Colin interrupted quietly. "To shot an arrow you need both of your hands and Link needed one hand to hold on at least one claw-shot."

"Baka." Beth whispered. "You made yourself somehow heavier to drag it down to the ground, right Link?"

"Yes, Beth I did good thinking there. Does anyone know how?"

This left the three children pondering.

"Oh I know!" A voice behind me shouted.

I turned abruptly around. "Ilia! Since when have you been eavesdropping?"

"Oh. Only since you faced the dragon heroic and fearless on top of the forty feet pillar." Ilia giggled and sat down between Talo and Beth.

"So what did Link do, Ilia?" Talo asked impatiently.

"Easy. He used the Iron Boots he got from dad."

"But Ilia, how would that make him heavier, as he already had them with him?" Colin asked, always thinking logically.

"Yeah. Right." Beth said agreeing with Colin. "So how did you do it, Link?"

I was left blinking. "Ehh. Ilia was right."

"What?" The four of them screamed. "How is that possible?"

"You see I had this magical bag where you could put anything in, but never feel the weight."

"Can we see it?" Beth begged.

"Yeah. Here." I showed her the little bag and from within I took the spiked mace.

"Whoa! That's so cool! Where did you get it?" Talo began jumping up and down from excitement.

Sighing I put the spice mace back. "I got it from the princess." It wasn't a lie. Since Midna was a princess.

"Really?" Beth and Ilia asked together.

I just nodded. Inward I cursed. I still couldn't tell them about her. It hurt to even think about her and I was afraid, that they wouldn't accept Midna, because she was from Twilight. And I feared Ilia's reaction. She still liked me, but I couldn't return her affections. I loved Midna and nothing could change that. I feared I would lose Ilia as my best friend and I honestly couldn't bear that. I already lost my love and if I lose my best friend... I don't know what I would do, without any purpose to live.

Ilia saw that I felt uncomfortable and stepped in. "Kids. It's time for you to go home. The sun will set soon."

"But Ilia!"

"We wanna hear how Link defeated the dragon."

"Yeah."

"He defeated it. Isn't that enough? It doesn't matter how. Now you better be home before twilight, or your parents will be angry."

Defeated the children made their way back home.

"We should go, too. It's getting dark." Ilia said to me as she held a hand out for me.

"No. I want to sit here for a while. I'll go after twilight." I declined.

Ilia was a little hurt, but seemed to be alright. "Okay. If you want to be alone I won't be in your way. See you tomorrow!" Then she jogged after the children.

I sat on the field with Epona grazing behind me and watched the sky turn into the colours of her hair and eyes.

_"Tell me... Do you ever feel a strange feeling as dusk falls? They say it's the only time when our world intersects with theirs... The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world. That's why loneliness always pervades at the hour of twilight. _I recalled Rusl telling me at the Spirit's Spring before Twilight invaded.

"Midna. I miss you." I whispered into the sky.

* * *

Tehehe. Thanks for reading!

Ah. Yeah. I wanna ask again:

Is there a beta-reader interested in beta-reading this story?

See you later!


	7. Chapter 6 A way?

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

**insane. certifiably **Only time will tell how and if Midna can protect her child. Glad you liked it! Now how far is Midna... Actually I googled around a bit and found out that the unpleasant side-effects take place in the second month. So now she should be around the third month I think. But Midna is a Twili, so I think there must be some differences. So she is half a month farer (is that even a word) than she should be if she were human.

**Syzeria **I would gladly take on your offer! I think after signing in there is a section called beta reader, perhaps there is more? You are probably right that Link should show some more emotion, but I don´t think he would be emo with his friends. Alone is another thing.

**LoveandZeLink **Perhaps I don´t need a beta-reader for my story to be adequate, but I would like someone with more experience to look over it. It won´t do any harm. Link probably feels very depressed, but I don´t think he´s that kind of a person that would let those around him feel bad too. Therefore he will be depressed... when he is alone. The people of Ordon is all he has left right now and I don´t think he doesn´t know that. So he appreciates them.

**Ranyo Malight **Thanks! About the beta position I already got an offer from Syzeria, so do you think there can be two beta-readers for one story?

As for **KisshuGirl101, ****Kharmachaos **and **Urshy **thanks for the reviews!

Here we go! I proudly present you the next chapter of Child of the Golden Twilight. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Okay, my mind was made up. I would never ever let them kill my baby. Yeah, right. Over my dead body! The duties I had being the princess were nothing compared to those of being a mother. Added to that I still felt guilty of leaving Link behind and my child was his child to. I wouldn't allow his legacy to be killed! It was the least thing I could do to make up for all the pain I caused him. I would do everything in my power to save his -not forgetting my- child from death, even if it meant my own death. It was now two against one: Midna and Mother-Midna against the Princess.

But while my resolve was firm my plan to save my baby was quite...gappy. How to save a child -my child- that will always differ from Twili when the only way to save it is for the Twili to believe it is one of their own. I had thought of many possibilities to save my child. The possibilities ranged from always having it right in front of me to hiding it. But all of my plans wouldn't be a adequate way of living.  
When I put it under supervision it would feel excluded and it wouldn't have any freedom. In the beginning it might work but then there was the risk that someone could manage someday somehow to get through the protection and kill my child or abduct it or torture it or do things to it as he pleases.  
Always hiding and being on the run? No I wouldn't expect my child to put up with that. My baby would become paranoid! I wanted my baby to grow up in a protected and peaceful environment.

Anything I thought of was a dead-end. No matter how you look at it my baby was destined to live in misfortune or die. But I wasn't that kind of person that would give up so easily. I learned that from Link. Not giving up always ended with a solution. Right now I was searching for a way in the library. I couldn't remember the last time I dwelled between dusty book towers. I wasn't a bookworm, but somehow right now I was evolving or should I say de-evolve into one. Free-time I usually spend with irritating some Twili or sneaking out of the palace, was spend with reading and reading and reading. And my research hadn't even panned out.

"This is hopeless!" I shouted groaning and stood up. After a short dizzy-spell I made my way to the window to let some fresh air in. There was no better way to clear one's head than a handful of fresh unspoiled air. Sighing I sucked in my secret antidote for unmotivation, orderless thoughts and headaches.

"Princess! This is one for the books! The Princess herself in my humble library." The librarian exclaimed. She was a -even in Twili standards- tall slender woman. Her hair was slightly shorter than the average hair of female Twili as we preferred long hair, that underlined our natual tall, wavy bodies. Her hair colour was the common orange, but her eyes were unusually dark, a black abyss. I think she was called Nuvra.

"Now, Nuvra, right? If you hadn't been absent, I'm sure you would have seen me in _your _library much more often." I stepped away from the window and put a hand on one of the book-towers. "As you can see, I was working hard while you were away."

"My greatest apologies, my princess!" She said as she fell to her knees. "If I had known, I would have been here ages ago. If there's anything I can do for you, I will do my very best."

"That's great to hear. But I think this is something I have to do on my own."

Nuvra bowed her head. "Why's that, Princess? I'm here to serve."

"This is a... private matter. I'd rather not talk about it. _I cannot trust anyone._" I whispered the last part and walked to Nuvra.

"You can't trust anyone?"

_Damn. She heard that? _"I didn't say anything like that." I smiled.

"No I heard it! It's really sad you won't trust me. I never did anything that might have harmed you princess. I admire you. I want to help you. You needn't tell me the details, but perhaps you can tell me some of it. I'm confident I can help. " She stated as she stood up and looked pleadingly into my eyes. "Please?"

"No."

"Please, Princess. Look at theses towers. You read them all, right?"

I nodded.

"And there was nothing in there, that could help you situation, right?"

Again, I nodded.

"Then you should accept my help. You didn't come far with your method. Alone you can't accomplish anything. Teamwork is what makes the world go 'round. When you don't know where to look you won't find what you desire. This library is huge and without a guide like me you are lost between the book-shelves." Nuvra said with so much enthusiasm that I was sure I saw her coal-black eyes catch fire.

"You know, I never got lost in the library. The lay-out is pretty easy."

"That was a metaphor! Anyway, you should accept my proposal!" She said with a thumbs-up-pose.

Somehow Nuvra began to scare me. In mere seconds she transformed from a obedient servant to a child with verbal diharroea. But somehow I came to like her. She wasn't uptight like the rest of the castle and I could find myself beginning to trust her.

"Okay. Before your mouth runs off, I'll tell you a little of my problem. But you must swear that you will never tell a soul of this."

She saluted "Yes, Princess!"

"Noone will ever know of this through you."

"Of course."

Her serious face made me want to trust her, but I had to make hundred percent sure. "Swear an oath: I will never tell anyone the secret of the princess. Not through written word, lips reading, a drawing and even pantomime. No one will ever know about this, because of me. I swear on my ancestors, my parents, the Sols and my life."

"I will never tell anyone the secret of the princess. Not through written word, lips reading, a drawing and pantomime. No one will ever know about this, because of me. I swear on my ancestors, my parents, the Sols and my life."

"Good, then come here." When she was near me I began to weave a soundproof barrier. "Walls have ears."

"And doors have eyes." Nuvra covered her face with her hair "We have to move like the wind and be quiet as a shadow, be unnoticed as a shadow. Good plan, my princess."

_Okay, she might have a mental disorder. Maybe because she was too long alone with the books? _Now that was another reason to tell her part of it. I didn't want to end like her.

"Okay. You see there is ... someone I need to help. This certain someone ... has something that the Council won't tolerate. So if they find out about it they will most likely kill this someone's something."

"This one´s easy. The mysterious person only needs to hide thissome thing that makes this person unpopular with the Council."

"No, it's not that easy. The person I mentioned can't hide this... Hiding wouldn't please it." I explained, although I wouldn't know the last part. My baby wasn't born, yet and I couldn't judge his/her dislikes and likes.

"It's even more precious to the person than the person's life?"

"Yes. Actually this something is a someone."

"I see... We are in a predicament. You don't want this person to be on the run... because the person will be most likely be pursued by other persons, gah this whole person stuff is confusing me, by the Twili. But getting rid of the other someone isn't an option either... What a shame Twili can't live in the Light World, otherwise you you send this person there. No Council and Twili hunting this person, problem solved! But because of the damn goddesses that won't be happening!" Nuvra cursed.

"The Light World..." I facepalmed. _Of course!_ "The Light World! Nuvra, you are a genius!"

My face brightend up. My baby could grow up with its daddy! And we could be family. I could be with Link until the end of my... . My smile faded. The reason I wasn't with Link in the first place was that I destroyed the mirror.

"No that won't work either. I destroyed the mirror to prevent further interactions with the Light World to prevent another coup d'etat."

"You did? Perhaps there is a way to restore the mirror or open another path to the Light World... But that wouldn't solve the not-being-able-to-stand-the-light-problem, Princess. This seems like a lost case, but we can't give up. Perhaps we find a way to solve that problem, too!"

I didn't tell her that that problem didn't need to be solved. My baby would be a half light-Hyrulian and a half-Twili, it would be able to exist in both realm, just like her mum and dad.

* * *

So even after a long time I only managed to write such a short chapter... You know the usual causes: school, test, looooooong school-days, homework, ?did I mention lack of motivation after school?, presentations, you name it...

There wasn´t a Link PoV in this Chapter because I plan a longer one in the next.

Yeah... anyway thanks for reading...

Anyone interested in how often the word person appeared? I think I used that word waay too often... It was 16 times... With one person in a review reply.

See you guys later!


	8. Of changes, Link and a little of books

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Okay. I´m soo sorry. It took ages, but I did it!

I was busy with remaking the first chapters and everything else, but again: sorry!

**Insane. certifiably **I like Nuvra, too. So I guess she´ll be appearing in the future chapters.

**The Final Lament **I guess... I´m not a great writer, so bear with me. I try to improve (I rewrote the first 3 chapters). I think it´s quite difficult to not be OOC while explaining MIdna´s thoughts, because first pregnancy makes you change, Link made her change. My Midna is a different Midna as in the game, as she is an after-game-Midna.

Thank you for the information. I haven´t had a child, yet and my mum was only pregnant with me. So I don´t really have the experience^^ And Twili have different pregnancy patterns, or Midna is exaggerating... I think.

**Ob3s3N1nja **You´ll like this chapter as it focuses on Link´s PoV

**LoveZeLink **I´ll try to focus on Link´s depression a little more on this chapter. Perhaps you like it.

**Ranyo Malight, meee, kharmachaos, linkxmidna1, Amber44, KishuGirl101, donttouchmykyota818, updater, crazyanimefreak15, Shadow Lordl, Fraya **I´m reaally sorry for not updating to make up for it I tried to make it longer and here is it!

Chapter 7 Of Changes, Link and a little of books

**Link PoV**

I sat on the wooden bridge leading to the Ranch. My feet were dangling in the fresh, clean water. Epona was standing near the bank drinking. Both of us were enjoying the morning-sun's rays- not too hot nor too cold. The climate in Ordon was the best. For my taste Snow Peak was way too cold, while the Gerudo Desert was way too hot. At Zora's Domain it was too humid, while in Castle Town the air was stifling and on Death Mountain too dry and thin. Sweet Home Ordon was perfect.

The children were playing a game of tag and their laughter was soothing. As was Uli's lullaby she sang to her little baby-girl: Ruth. Ruth was a little bundle of joy. The smile of the little girl could make anyone smile. When I returned I was a little surprised and sad when I saw I wasn't there at her birth. Rusl, Uli, Colin and now Ruth were like my family. I was very happy when I heard that Uli was pregnant and was looking forward to holding my younger "sibling".

At the time I returned to Ordon I was really down, because... anyway. When Uli gave me Ruth my depression seemed to fly away when she smiled at me. The other kids then had come and began to surround me and when Ilia joined too, I couldn't help but imagine this was my family. My kids running around my wife smiling. But as soon as the picture manifested it changed. Instead of the blond and brownish hair the children had reddish hair and black symbols on their skin. Their eyes changed to the colour of the Twilight and worst of all: Instead of Ilia stood Midna.

I remember becoming dizzy and shocked calls of my name. But all I could see were Midna's eyes staring right into mine. Subconciously I squeezed Ruth and she began to cry this brought me out of my stupor. Uli took Ruth carefully back and began to soothe her.

Rusl had put a hand on my shoulder and said _"Link, perhaps you should rest you look exhausted."_

I had just nodded and had gone back to my house. But her eyes had followed me everywhere, even in my dreams.

Even now I could see her clearly before me. Her long hair and her eyes. I missed her. My eyes began to water and looked down to hide my tears. I didn't want anyone to know of my pain. It was too personal. The exception: Epona. She felt my depression and began rubbing her snout against my face.

It felt good. I could tell Epona everything and she would be always there for me. I even had the opportunity to understand her, when I was in my wolf-form, but transforming was a risk because it was very troublesome to turn back.

Epona continued rubbing against my face and it tickled."Stop it." I laughed and pushed her gently away. "Are you up for a ride?"

Her answer was a loud enthusiastic neigh. I interpreted it as a Yes!. So I stood up and dusted off my traditional Ordonian clothing. I had put the Hero's Tunic into the chest in my basement as it wasn't fit to be worn for daily activities. Wearing the tunic was set aside for saving Hyule not herding goats. But it was quite the change as the tunic was much more comfortable, warm, save, (better-looking) and of course much more special.

I got on Epona's back, kicked her sides and together we left Ordon Village and entered Faron Woods.

The Woods were a beautiful place: I had always loved the green and the little flowers poking through the sea of green. The air was clean and seemed to have a life and free will of its own and the forest animals had already begun their concert for anyone that resided in the forest.

I stopped at the Light Spirit's fountain and filled my bottle with the water. Epona stood at the bank and drank. So I decided to wait for her and plopped down into the grass next to her. I plugged a grass stalk and played a melody that just came to my mind. It was a slow melody that reminded me of something I just couldn't place my finger on. Where had I heard this melody again? I only needed three notes and there was no pause. The melody made me feel like I accomplished something like when I helped the Zoras out of the ice or when I brought the sols to the cursed Twili. It just made me feel good. Nearly as good as running through the fields as a wolf or howling...

That was it! I had learned this melody at the last Howling Stone. After that the Hero's Shade had taught me the Great Spin.

_You have mastered numerous hidden skills and now house the spirit of the true hero. _He had said to me.

It had made me proud and this melody that Midna and I called the Ballad of Twilight somehow just made me feel these feelings all over again. And then all of it came back. This short melody represented everything I had experienced on my quest and of course that also included Midna.

My breath hitched as I remember the feeling I had around Midna. _How could she do this to me? How could she leave me? I loved her! Even now I did._

I stood up and screamed to the sky: "I thought you loved me, too! So why? How could you!"

I waited for a response but there was nothing, only silence, even the animals had stopped their concert. I took deep breath to calm myself and felt salty tears on my cheeks, but didn't care. There was no one around who would see me like this, except Epona, but she already knew.

Furious that I got no response I punched the closest tree. But that hurt more than it did any good so I slid down the trunk and my hand drew nearer to a secluded leather pouch on my belt. Inside was the black-orange transformation trigger. Without any second thought I slipped my hand into it and triggered the transformation: my bones and joints changed and repositioned themselves, my dark fur grew and my head got longer and turned into the head of a wolf, my senses improved and I felt good- although the transformation never was pleasant I kind of welcomed the feeling now, because of the result. Freedom.

I barked a short apology to Epona and took off. I felt better now. Pehaps it was because a wolf didn't have such a variety of emotions like humans or just because I just felt good as a wolf, as being a wolf had become my second nature.

I ran through the tunnel and then to Coro, the friendly latern-man. He was really nice even to my wolf form and I usually stopped at Coro's for a little stroke, but today I rushed by and exited the Faron Province through the gate I opened so long ago. Hyrule Field lay in front of me. It was a peaceful region with no to little monsters now. Therefore people dared to travel on Hyrule field. From Castle Town to Kakariko or from the Zora's Domain to Death Mountain. I could see some groups even today. In fact one seemed to head towards Ordon, the least visited province in whole Hyrule... except maybe the Gerudo Desert or Snow Peak, those were the really secluded areas.

Anyway, my curiousity was awakened and I ran towards the group, stealthily. There was no use for them to run away since I wanted to listen to their intentions. It was rare that someone would take interest in us Ordonians, because we were a totally new province to Hyrule and some regarded us as some kind of aliens. The group, as I could see now, was a little family with a cart pulled by a horse. The man was tall and had dark hair. His clothes were a dead give-away: merchant. He sat in the cart next to what I presumed was his wife. She had long wavy brown hair that was held back by a expensive looking hair-pin. She gently caressed her slightly bigger stomach. Pregnancy, her scent told me. Next to the horse a young man was walking. I guessed he was around my age. He stroked the horse while walking next to it and lead it to Ordon's direction. The family seemed happy as they talked, laughed and smiled together.

I wanted such a family, too. But Midna took all my changes of a happy family with her beyond the shattered mirror and therefore out of my reach. It wasn't fair! She knew I loved her! I knew she loved me! Why had it have to be so complicated? Why did she have to be a princess and I a meaningless goat-herder from another realm? I wanted her beside me so badly that it hurt. I wanted...

A neight of the horse yanked me out of my thoughts. The family had come closer, close enough for the horse to sense the wolf hiding in a distance.

"Ho! Calm down, Faras. There is nothing here to be afraid of. Calm down."The boy soothed the horse while gripping the reins tightly.

The pregnant woman held onto the armrest to not fall down because the cart jerked slightly: "Ezio, make the horse stop I'm getting dizzy. The baby... Ugh."

The boy, Ezio, nodded and doubled his efforts to calm Faras. But his efforts were in vain and the woman's face began to turn into a light shade of green. To ease her pain I got out of the horse's sensing radius to make the horse calm down. It worked and Faras stopped making the cart shake.

The family decided to take a break and the man helped his wife out of the cart. Ezio tied the horse to a tree near the little lake, a pond compared to Hylia Lake. This way the horse could recover from the journey by drinking the water and eating the grass. When all of them had settled I sneaked closer to listen to the family's conversation.

"... don't know, why he got scared. There should be nothing here to be afraid of. The guard in Castle Town had said so." Ezio told his mother who seemed worried.

"Yes, darling. He assured me that these horrible monsters will never come again, thanks to the Hero and the Princess." the man comforted.

"But how do they know, Branko. Perhaps there is one or two of these monsters still roaming in Hyrule, or perhaps they have come back." the woman pointed out.

"Chiara. I will not let anything harm you or the baby. Trust me and Ezio." Branko said while placing his hand on her shoulder, then he squeezed it a little.

"I know. But what if they come back. Will we be safe?" the woman now named as Chiara asked.

"That the other reason we are leaving Castle Town. I heard while the attack Ordon was the most peaceful place there was. Probably because it's the hero's home. So if anything like that will happen again we will be safest in Ordon." Ezio explained.

_They wanted to move to Ordon? No way. It's so different from Castle Town. _I thought while unconsciously creeping closer to the family.

"But what if something happens and the hero or anyone won't be there to stop the monster." Chiara stated with a worried voice while looking over to her husband.

"It won't happen."

Unfortunately just at that moment I stepped on a stupid branch which resulted in a loud crack. The family and the horse looked in my direction.

"A monster!" Chiara shriked and pointed at me.

The horse went wild again and struggled against the rope to escape.

"Do not worry mum. I'll take care of this!" Ezio exclaimed and took a bow from his back. Before I could blink he already had an arrow ready.

I cursed and took off towards Faron forest. I sped up as an arrow hit the ground next to me in my immediate proximity.

As I got near to the entrance I heard behind me the boy shouting behind me: "Monster! I won't let you get away." And then I felt pain in my shoulder blade. Lucky shot. An arrow had hit me and it stung like hell while running. So I mobilised my last strength for the dash into the safe forest.

When I felt safe I slowed down and dragged myself to the Light Spirit's fountain. I needed to change back and get the arrow out. It was a painful walk as with each step the arrow dug into my flesh. When I finally arrived I felt like collapsing.

"What happened to you?" Epona asked worried.

"It's just... an arrow. Nothing to... worry about." I answered while taking deep breathes.

"It's not nothing. But first we need you to go into the spring." Epona said while trotting next to me to the spring.

Sighing I sat down in the spring and waited for Faron to show up. When I first turned into a wolf, not knowing I counldn't easily change back. I was scared, but Faron told me that he could turn me back whenever I liked, because I helped him out.

"Hero, I see you sought me again. I will grant your wish to become once again human." Faron spoke and enfulged me with a blinding light. When everything was back to normal I sat in the shallow warm water with the arrow still in my shoulder. As I reached to pull it out I heard Epona protesting.

"Shut it. It's no use. Hasn't been the first time I needed to do this. This won't hurt a bit. Don't worry." I told Epona and with a powerful pull I pulled the arrow out. I couldn't suppress a grunt. _I guess having done this before doesn't ease the pain._

Epona snorted and got behind me. _"Get on."_

I nodded and slowly mounted her. Epona got me slowly and carefully home where I could bandage the wound. Getting up the ladder wasn't easy with only one arm and for the nth I cursed this stupid ladder. It was so troublesome to get inside after an exhausting day. Sure I looked cool but it wasn't really convenient. Perhaps I should modify the house to be a little bit more practical.

At the moment I rested on my bed and dreamed of her. I couldn't stop it, when I was alone all I could think of was her. It was torture. So I got up and jumped down in order to go easy on my shoulder and lay down beside Epona. The sounds she made distracted me enough to fall asleep.

* * *

**Midna PoV**

Book, books everywhere books! My head was about to explode from information, but I had to read more to find a way back!

* * *

**Link PoV**

I awakened to the sound of hooves and feet clapping on the ground and the squeaking of the wheels of a cart. Groggily I sat up and winced at the pain in my shoulder. It had become sore from lying on the hard floor. It was late afternoon judging from the position of the sun. I stood up and went up to Epona to see what was making the noise.

Because of what I saw my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. It was the family: Branko, Chiara, Ezio and Faras. I had totally forgotten that the family WANTED to come here. The family had taken their old positions: Mum and Dad on the Cart. Ezio next to Faras. When I saw Ezio I had to suppress a growl. How dare he shoot me? Faras was uneasy when he sensed me. He probably smelled the scent of the wolf they encountered today in the field.

When the woman saw me her face lit up. "Finally we are here. Goody afternoon. Is this the village of Ordon?"

I nodded.

"See, mother. It's just like I said. In the hunting club I was the best in reading maps." Ezio boasted.

"It's not like you could miss it. There is a only one path leading to Ordon." I muttered under my breath. We had closed the gate that lead deeper into the forest because of the children. There was still some traces of the poison gas left.

"Young man. Could you take us to the chief." Branko asked.

I nodded again and went to the village.

"Do you think he can't talk?" the woman whispered to her husband. I rolled my eyes and walked past Sera's Sundries, the shop of Ordon.

"Don't know perhaps they don't talk to strangers." Branko whispered back.

"Everything here looks so primitive. Houses out of trees and wood? Don't these people have dignity?" Ezio whispered to his father.

I stopped. Shooting me with an arrow was one thing, but insulting my family was another. Abruptly I turned around and looked him in the eye. "Actually we do. But you don't seem to have common sense. We are different than you, but not primitive. You want to live here then get over with it." I growled angrily.

This made them shut up. I knocked at Bo's door and waited. Ilia opened and I heard Ezio gasp behind me and whisper: "How beautiful."

"Link! I'm glad to see you! Where were you the whole day? I've been looking for you and Epona! You didn't do anything that hurt her did you?" Ilia got nearer and nearer with each sentence while pushing me back with her index-finger.

When she saw the family she stopped her tantrum and faced the family: "Oh sorry. I didn't see you there. I'm Ilia, the daughter of the Mayor."

"Good afternoon, Ilia. My name is Ezio and this is my dad Branko and my mum Chiara." Ezio introduced his family. "Oh and this is Faras, our horse." I could see Ilia face light up as the horse was mentioned. _Horse-Maniac._

"Actually we wanted to speak to the village chief." Branko said.

"I'll get my father." Ilia said sweetky as she entered the house again. I could hear her shouting at her dad. "Dad get out of your sumo-outfit. We got visitors!"

I chuckled at their antics. Ezio came up to me.

"So who is Epona?", Ezio asked me.

"Epona is my horse. Why?" I asked him with a cold glare.

"Pah. Can't take care of your own horse?" Ezio spat.

"I can. Ilia is just overprotective of her. I would do a better job than you." I countered.

"What about a race? In the evening? To see who has the better horse." Ezio asked. "In the hunting club I was the best in horse races."

"I don't need a stupid race to know who has the better horse. Your horse better than Epona? Dream on!" I laughed. Epona and I have been through so much. I thought of the countless encounters we had with King Bublin. I doubted there would be any better horse in Hyrule. She had so much stamina and was fast.

"You chicken! Afraid of losing?" Ezio smirked.

"No. I don't need to prove myself to a hunting-club-kid." I said and stepped away from the door as I heard Ilia and Bo coming back. The door hit Ezio on the head and I had to suppress a loud laugh. Out came a light chuckling.

"Oh godesses. I'm so sorry." Ilia comforted Ezio and made me shut up with a glare.

"It's nothing." Ezio said. _Such a brave kid _I thought sarcastically.

"Good afternoon. I'm sorry for the wait. I'm Bo the Mayor of our humble village. What can I do for you?" Bo asked.

"My name is Branko, I'm a merchant. This is my son Ezio, he is talented with hunting. Because the pregnancy of my wife, Chiara, we thought to move to a more peaceful and safer place to live. We decided that Ordon would be the best choice, because the Hero lives here and it not as populated as Castle Town." Branko explained.

Bo nodded and glanced at me_. _"Oh, yes. I understand. Ordon is a perfect home for a little child. But where will you stay?"

"Perhaps we could stay at an inn for the time being. We will pay anyone willing to help us build our own house." Branko stated.

"Ordon isn't a much frequented place. Therefore guests usually stay at one of the villager's homes." Bo crossed his arms, glanced at Ezio who threw looks at Ilia. Shook his head and looked at me. _No way! _I thought.

"You could stay at Link's. His basement is quite spacious." Bo stated.

"But it's really dark in there and all of my stuff is in there." I added.

"The darkness won't be a problem we could light some torches. If you would be so kind to move you stuff." Branko stated.

"That's great. Link you can put your stuff in my backroom." Bo interrupted my objection and put an arm onto my shoulder.

I winced at the unexpected pain. And of course Ilia noticed it. "Link you are hurt!" I exclaimed and hurried to my side. "Sit down." she ordered and took of the shoulder part of my Ordonian tunic. Then she saw the bloodied bandages.

When she wanted to take them off I slapped her hand away. "It's nothing."

"It was probably the monster, we saw." Chiara stated looking afraid.

"There aren't monsters in Hyrule anymore." Bo disagreed.

"My mum is right. On our way here we saw a wolf." Ezio said.

This, of course, got Bo's interest. "A wolf. What did it look like?"

"Mostly grey-black, from what I could see."

"It's that wolf again, dad. The one Hanch saw when we weren't in town. The one that stole the shield and the sword, right?" Ilia exclaimed while standing up. I put my tunic back to place.

"Stealing our stuff is acceptable but hurting people... We cannot let this monster do what it wants to do anymore." Bo said.

"I already hit it with an arrow. It's weakened. So we should hunt it down." Ezio decided.

"I don't think you should go hunt the wolf. You will never find him." I scoffed. "And he is strong even with an inju..."

"You shut up, Link! You are already hurt. Come I take you home, let them handle the hunt." Ilia ordered.

"But..."

"No buts! Come, let's go." Ilia ordered with a stern look. So I went home and let Bo, Branko and Ezio plan the hunt for... me. Troublesome.

* * *

Wow! I did it! A long chapter! And a update! I hope you liked it!


	9. Chapter 8 has no name

I´m so sorry for the super late update... But I had many test, but now I´m finished for the year! And on top of that I had my driving test... Fortunately I passed!... barely... But I did it!

But honestly I would have had the time to update. I am horrible person, because I waited for the 50th review for this story and wanted to update after it... but then since 5th April I only needed one tiny review to 50. And I got it yesterday! Thank you very much tortorbinks92 for leaving the 50th review!

Of course I want to thank all the other reviewers, namely Shadow Lordl, LoveandZeLink, Xaotl Omega, donttouchmykyoya818, , kharmachaos, The Sileo Patronus, Fraya, Gameblaster12, Super Mikey Bros64, Dawn Ashlyn Winters, pop, Silver Wolf 261. You guys are awesome!

Zelda will be making an apearance in future chapters... I hope. But first I want to concentrate on Link and Midna.

I didn´t see the resemblance between Ezlo and Ezio until it was pointed out by Insane. certifiably! But you are right... Ezlo was annoying and so is Ezio... But the name Ezio is Italian and means eagle. I thought it was fitting because Ezio is a proud boy and hunts, he also has an ego of a king. In fact the whole family´s names have a Italian touch... I think.

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

* * *

Chapter No. 8

Link PoV

After Ilia brought me back to my place, she had insisted on treating my wound, but I kindly declined. It would be really troublesome, if Ilia found out that the cause of my wound was not a bite of a wolf but an arrow. Then I would have a hell of explaining to do and I was not up for that. However my friendly dismissal brought me into my current predicament. It would be so much easier if Ilia wasn't someone who made a mountain out of a dustspeck.

"No, Link! I'll have none of that! You are obviously hurt and I'm going to do something about it!", Ilia shouted with arms akimbo, leaning forward to look directly into my eyes.

I quickly averted my eyes and began fidgeting on my chair. I felt like a little child! "Are you my mum? NO! I don´t want you poking there. And I can take care of myself! I survived many of these wounds. No need to worry." I said while pushing her gently out of my personal space.

"You don't have to play the though hero any more! It's perfectly fine for your wounds to be treated by now!" Ilia slapped my hands away and fetched new fresh bandages from the shelves.

"But I'm perfectly fine! See?" I shouted while jumping onto my feet.

"I only want to help you!" Ilia yelled while throwing the bandages down onto the floor.

"If you want to help me so badly you can help me with moving my stuff to your dad's. I can't believe he dumped me with them!" I said with exaggeration. I already held my lantern in my hand and had began to climb down into the basement. "Honestly there is no way a pregnant woman would aprechiate all these ladders, but no! They can live with Link! He has way to much space, so why not use it and turn it into an inn!"

"What's eating you? I think that they are a very nice family. Especially this Ezio seems very polite and considerate." Ilia said while moving towards the ladder.

I nearly fell down, after I heard this. "You can't be serious! He is the worst out of the whole bunch! I never encountered such a spoiled, arrogant brat! I'd rather dive into the next stinging nettle field than hear his voice again." I sighed and lit the torch to illuminate the room.

"He is really nice! He is even helping with hunting the beast that got you and he has a horse!" Ilia defended the brat.

"The fact that he has a horse speaks very much in his favour, right? If the guy has a horse, he must be sent by the goddesses!" I turned to face her but she just stared speechless at my stuff.

"What do you store in here? This is really much." Ilia whispered while turning around. "Wait. How do you plan to transport that... or that?" she asked while staring at the Ironboots and the Ball and Chain. "These must weigh tons!"

"Actually they're not that heavy. The only problem would be getting them up the ladder. Down is no problem, but up... . Anyway, we are two, right. This should be a piece of goat-cheese!" I stated as I rolled my injured shoulder. "Let's begin with the heavy stuff. It'll be easier when we are exhausted to carry the light stuff."

Ilia just nodded and together we began to move my stuff to Major Bo's house.

* * *

Midna PoV

It's been weeks since I and Nuvra began searching, but we hadn't found anything. It was really frustrating, especially with my hormones riding a kargaroc (this "bird" you ride when playing the Balloon Popping Game), and the big problem was, that my pregnancy was getting kind of obvious. Thank the goddesses for making most of the councillors dumb! But although they were addle-brained time was running short.

With each passing day Nuvra and I doubled our efforts to find or even think of a solution, but there didn't seem to be one! So I was really frustrated and my nerves were frayed. When I lay in my bed I was often starting to loose hope, but when my hands rested on my stomach and I felt the tiny movements, I just couldn't give up. I would do my very best to save my baby!

I turned another dusty page that didn't help me either. If there only was something! I skimmed through the next pages and came to the conclusion that I would find nothing in this book. So I slammed it shut with an irritated sigh: "Why do I even bother to look in a cooking book?"

I stared at Nuvra. We had become close friends while reading the dusty books searching for a way to the Light Realm. She told me much of herself. She had been born into an average family with enough money to educate Nuvra in reading and calculating. Because she was considered a genius by her teachers she even had the chance to learn magic, a privilege that was reserved for the rich. But Nuvra had found her passion with the books. It was sheer luck, in her opinion that she ended up in the biggest library in the Twilight. And although the library was really big, Nuvra and I had already read the most promising books. We were beginning to run out of options.

Nuvra peeked from her book and said: "Midna. We need to check everything. You know, the most interesting facts are mostly hidden well. In plain sight! A cooking book might just be our ticket into the Light world! Perhaps there is a code. Have you tried to arrange the first letters of every recipe into a hint. When I looked for a code in "The Amazing Tale of a Curious Dustspeck" I got "Coffee should be served at body-temperature." I'm sure something is hidden in there!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." I opened the book at a random page and read aloud. "Making a wonderful sandwich- in Twilian style! Seriously, any hidden meaning detected?"

"Perhaps you need to examine the page in a different way... like this!" Nuvra stood up and took the book from me. Then she held one page against the light. Immediately the letters from the backside mixed with those from Making a wonderful sandwich- in Twilian style. The result was... gibberish. "Okay I admit it. This cooking book is completely useless!" Nuvra shouted and threw it to the ground. Because of that a little piece of paper flew silently out of the space between two pages.

Incredulously, both of us stared at it. An old yellowish parchment with many snippy dark lines flew to the ground, where it raised a tiny dust cloud. Nuvra approached it slowly and lifted it up carefully as if it would disappear any moment. After a short time of reading it Nuvra smiled enthusiastically: "Princess. I think we just got your ticket!"

* * *

Link PoV

Sighing I stretched my back and regarded the chests and weapons, that were piled up in the corner of Bo's training-room. It had taken Ilia and I nearly until sundown to transport everything here and what I hadn't expected: it had been quite exhausting. Physically, it hadn't taken a heavy toll on me, it had on Ilia who sat panting on a chest, no to me it was mentally exhausting.

Everything held a memory of her... Midna. I laid my eyes on the Ordon Shield, which she once used as a mask, a rather funny sight. And again I couldn't help it, but the choke the feelings that came up again. Longing, loneliness, love. I looked away from the pile of memories and went towards the exit.

"Wait, Link! Where are you going I was about to invite you to dinner, because father burdened you with taking Ezio's family in, although we would have had enough space and usually take guests in. I feel kind of bad..." Ilia shouted after me and stood up.

"Thanks for the offer, Ilia. But I'm tired. I'd rather go to sleep now. Tomorrow I need to rise early." I explained while turning my head towards her. "Goodnight, Ilia."

The air outside had gotten fresher and the sun's rays were turning Ordon's houses into an orange shade. Light bounced from the water of the stream, while I had to shield my eyes from the sun barely peeking over the horizon. Twilight. I shook my head to clear it from any thoughts and memories of her and began walking towards my house. I wanted to relax now and perhaps enjoy the silence of night.

But on my way home I couldn't help, but overhear the conversation between Bo, Rusl and Ezio. The conversation's topic seemed to be the wolf-me, so I hid behind a bush to be not found out.

"You sure that you've gotten it, lad? Are you even sure that you saw it? Because I didn't see anything related to a monster in the forest." Bo asked in a suspicious voice. "Perhaps you only wanted attention from Ilia?"

"No, sir!" Ezio shook his head vehemently, while his shiny dark curly hair flew in all directions, hiding his face. _Such a pretty boy, he is probably using some kind of over-expensive soap from the Zoras to keep his hair so glossy. _I scoffed and turned away.

"Sir! We really need to continue searching. The monster might be hiding somewhere. Perhaps it is very near, lurking in the shadows, planning his next move and then attacking us when we expect it the least." Ezio pleaded and took his bow. "I'll kill it for injuring a defenceless boy, even if I don't like him! I'll kill it for trying to attack my family! If I hadn't stopped it, it might have killed my mother with her unborn baby or my father..."

Rusl interrupted Ezio with a low voice, trying to calm the obvious excited boy down. "As inspiring and altruistic this speech was, I hate to point out that this monster you speak off, might be a little less violent than you make it seem and..."

"But the wolf... it attacks defenceless people. You can't just let it roam free." Ezio shouted.

"The only person that has been attacked so far is Link. And Link is far from being a defenceless person. I would guess that he probably angered the wolf somehow and got caught out of guard. But the fact remains that it has attacked a person and you are right that this is a problem. The wolf is somewhere out there and it has proven to be a danger to our village, but we shouldn't hunt it down actively. It's too cunning to not notice our traps or hunting parties. No we need to catch it off guard. If we actively hunt the wolf it will notice and it will watch every step it takes. If we act that we've given up, it is most likely that it will let it guard down and that's the moment we will strike." Rusl explained.

_A reasonable tactic, I must say, Rusl. But, now that I knew the plan, I won't let my guard down. _I thought. It was really fortunate that I overheard this conversation, because if I hadn't known the hunting-party would give up on purpose they could have caught me off guard. Thank the godesses. That would have been a mess!

"Rusl as logical as this tactic is, I just can't do this, because I have a hunter's pride! I'll not lure the beast into false security to strike it in its back! I will fight it like a real man!" Ezio exclaimed while pumping his fist. "If we hesitate it'lll claim another victim!"

"Now, calm down, boy. Rusl is an experienced hunter and fighter. He knows what he is doing. Let him handle this." Bo assured Ezio with a calming voice. "We have everything under control"

Ezio looked away and took in a breath: "No, you don't have anything under control, for how long has this monster been hurting the innocent? For how long haven't you done anything? And now when you have the chance you won't take it? You will only sit around and do nothing?"

"The wolf hasn't harmed anyone since today and we won't do nothing about it!" Rusl shouted and took a step towards Ezio. "I won't let anything harm my family."

"But it might be here! It might be preparing to attack us any moment? I might be hiding right there behind this bush!" Ezio shouted while pointing at my hiding spot.

I fidgeted nervously, the bushes rustled, shock was written on Ezio's, Rusl's, Bo's and presumingly my face, an arrow was pointed in my direction by Ezio and before I could react the arrow embedded itself into the ground not a feet next to me.

Shocked I stared at the still vibrating arrow. I had been shot nearly TWICE today by the SAME person. Seriously, I'm getting old.

"Who is there?" questioned Bo with a booming voice while Rusl held back Ezio from shooting another arrow.

Slowly with hands raised I stood up carefully and stepped out of my hiding place.

"Link! What did you do there? You could have been seriously hurt!" Rusl shouted and looked at Ezio and me reproachfully.

"Yeah, I see that." I mumbled while glancing nervously at the arrow. "Eh, I heard shouting and went to see who was making such a ruckus."

"Your curiosity will be your death someday, Link" Rusl sighed and turned to Ezio. "Why did you shoot? This bow is a weapon and to wield a weapon you have to take on responsibility! What would you have done if you killed Link?"

"My hand must have slipped." Ezio mumbled. "...I'm sorry..."

_His hand slipped? As if he didn't do this on purpose! The first time he also didn't bother to make sure no one would be hurt. What an irresponsible brat!_

"Tch. Spare your excuses. I'm going home." I glared at Ezio and went home. This kid somehow always managed to make my blood boil. Usually I kept a cool head and didn't bother because of a little slip-up, but I couldn't stand him. Was it his annoying voice, or his overconfident attitude, or his naivity? Angered I shoot a pebble away with my foot. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Why was I so angry? I didn't know. What I knew was that I really wanted to transform now. But I could barely stop myself from reaching out for the stone. I couldn't! They where searching for the wolf-me! I growled angrily. Now I couldn't let out my anger. Damn you, Ezio!

I stomped to my house, because I needed to be alone now. Gritting my teeth I rounded the corner and saw Ezio's father carrying his family's stuff into my house while his wife ordered where to put it.

Goodbye calmness and solitude! Hello my new life!

* * *

Midna PoV

I was so happy right now, because of a little old piece of paper. With trembling hands I held it while reading the ancient language of the Twili, that I learned as little child from my mum.

_Cum viam impeditur, nova aperiebit.  
Sine spectulo, via non est.  
Si novam viam invenire vis, speculum indiges.  
Speculum deletum erat?  
Invene novum speculum!  
Lacus te mentiritur.  
Si speculum invenit, ea verba loquitur:  
"Göttinnen, erhört mein Flehen.  
Der Weg ist zerstört, nun in Scherben.  
Aber unsere Welten sind zwei Seiten einer Münze,  
und müssen vereint sein um eine Münze zu sein.  
Daher stellt den Weg wieder her."  
Via aperiebit, sed solum unus e familia regali aperire potest.  
In terra umbrarum remanere debet,ut viam non perdatur._

(I´ll try to translate it into English here... Man, why is google translator unable to translate it properly...:  
When the way is lost, a new one will appear.  
Without a mirror, there isn´t a way.  
If you want to find a new way, you´ll need a mirror.  
The mirror has been destroyed?  
Find a new mirror!  
The lake mirrors you.  
If you find the mirror, say these words:  
"Goddesses, hear my solicitation.  
The way is destroyed, now in shards.  
But our worlds are two sides of one coin,  
they must be united to be one coin.  
Therefore restore the way!"  
A way will open, but only one of the royal family can open it.  
He must remain in the land of shadows, in order to avoid to lose the way.)

"Well it's quite cryptic. For the connection, we need a mirror... I understand that. But I don't think a normal mirror will do." concluded Nuvra as she read the paper again. "Hey, why are they suddenly talking about a lake mirroring you?"

"Perhaps they want to point out that a lake can be a mirror, too. But the secret of the mirror isn't what is worrying me. It's the last part. A royal family member is necessary to hold up the link. And right now I'm the only one." I whispered desperately. I couldn't go there. I couldn't go to see Link. Sobbing I burrowed my head in my hand and cried.

Nuvra put a comforting hand on my shoulder: "Don't worry we'll find a way. But now we can at least save your baby. That was your first priority, right, Midna?"

* * *

Soo. I really did it!

For those wanting to know what the ancient language is... it´s Latin and the speech is German. I had some problems with the google translator so I had to translate the text myself. And that was really hard... Anyway, now you even got a tri-lingual chapter. Be happy and review, please.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Okay! I did it! I had much planned for this chapter, but somehow it got out of hand and I only managed to write like one quarter of my plans. It´s like this damn story has a life of its own... *Sigh* I guess in the next chapter... This chapter isn´t that long because of that. The rest didn´t really fit... But in return I updated faster than last time!

Anyway! I was very happy, because of the wonderful reviews I got from you. Your support really keeps me writing. The last chapter wasn´t as clear as I hoped it would be, so I tried to make the whole situation Midna is in more understandable.

But now I proudly present Chapter 9! Have fun reading and don´t forget to review!

Chapter 9

Midna PoV

**Cryptic message from the last chapter:**

_A way will open, but only one of the royal family can open it._

_He must remain in the land of shadows, in order to avoid losing the way._

These last sentences were that what had destroyed all my hopes of seeing Link again. I was the last royal member, except for my baby, but it wasn't born yet, and I was needed to keep up the link between the realms. It was either me sending my baby to Link or my baby sending me to Link. But I guess even I am not selfish enough to do that.

I knew Nuvra was right when she said that our first priority was getting my baby to Link, so I have to remain here and send my baby to Link, but I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that I couldn't go there, too.

The whole time I had hoped, that, if we found a way, I could be with Link and the baby. I hoped, we could be a family.

I know that was really naïve, because even if I went to Hyrule someone had to manage things here. It wasn't like I could just go away, live my dream and let anyone else handle being queen or princess, that was running, at the moment, only in my blood. In the best case scenario, I would be a part-time mother. Why couldn't I have a brother or sister who would take my place as ruler? Then I could live a happy life as Link's wife with my baby. It had been only wishful thinking to be with Link and the baby for my whole life.

But right now I had to concentrate on getting my baby out of harm's way. For that I needed a clear head.

"Midna? Are you okay?" Nuvra asked worried. "Do you need to lie down for a bit? I'll continue looking for clues leading to our new mirror. But when we got the connection, we still have to solve the non-light-resistant-problem for the little one."

I looked at Nuvra and sighed. I hadn't told her of my baby, but I guess there had been no hiding it from Nuvra. When she said that our first priority was my baby. I was shocked and frightened that other's would come to the same conclusion as Nuvra did, but Nuvra was intelligent and spend much time with me. I even feared that Nuvra would tell the Council, but I banished this thought out of my head. This was me being over-protective. Nuvra was a loyal friend, the most loyal friend I had in the Twilight Realm. And I felt bad I didn't tell her of my baby's origin, because I was afraid, to lose her and, because of that, the baby.

Should I tell her? It was the least I could do for her, she was helping me so much. She always knew what to do to cheer me up, what I wanted to eat, when I was not feeling well or what I needed the most at the moment. It was really disrespectful to leave her in the dark and let her worry about another problem that she didn't need to worry about.

"Nuvra. There is something you should know. About the baby." I began.

She looked at me with a questioning glance: "And what would that be, Midna? You know you can tell me anything, I'll always be on your side. Pinky-promise."

"That's what I was worrying about. I'm afraid that after telling you this you won't be my friend any more and then I honestly couldn't go on. Nuvra, I need you. I just can't lose you, too." I whispered and turned away while cursing these stupid hormones, that always make me say things I would never say.

She sat down next to me: "You won't lose me, I won't abandon you. But it is quite insulting that you think so little of me, Midna. Even if the baby was Zant reincarnated I would still support you, because I know that you won't endanger anyone."

"Thank you." Nervously I looked around the room to see if the soundproof barrier was still intact. "Okay. Let me begin at the beginning. You know when Zant took over I saved the worlds with the Sacred Beast, right?"

Nuvra only nodded to let me continue.

"Well. The Beast wasn't what the legend said it was, but a Hylian, cursed to turn into a wolf when exposed to Twili magic. In their realm he was the godsend hero, bearer of the Triforce of Courage. His name was, no, is Link. A simple caring goat-herder of a tiny village. And he is the man I love and... the father of the baby."

At first Nuvra didn't say anything and just stared at my disbelievingly. "Seriously now?"

I just nodded and waited for her reaction.

"That was all?" She laughed relieved.

Now I was dumb-stuck. _That was all? _Wasn't she angry at me to love a _damn light-dweller_? Had she just accepted the fact that the Twilight Princess loved the goddesses' favourite hero from the Light World? No way! Even Nuvra couldn't be that accepting, right? She was a good friend but still a Twili at heart. A Twili, that despised the goddesses.

"He saved us, right? That means he is a good boy. I mean, not every light-dweller has to be bad and spoiled and egoistic. You said it yourself. He was cursed. He fought Zant. By all means I am greatly indebted to this Link. I can't let any prejudices cloud my judgement. Seriously I thought you were bearing a monster or you were raped, the way you acted, when you began to tell me about you secret. I thought you had committed a mortal sin. But I understand why you were hesistant to tell anyone. The council would demand for the little one to be killed. But we'll have none of that, right, Midna?"

"You know, Nuvra." I said while hugging her. "You are the best friend I ever had. I don't know how I could ever repay you for this."

"Hmm you could start by ordering me a Sandwich- Twilian Style, the one we saw in the sacred cooking-book. I'm starving." she pointed out with mock seriousness and rubbing her exposed stomach.

I laughed and nodded. "I'll go get you one."

"Good." She said while I got up. "While you are at it. Get us some water, the carafe is empty!" She waved with the carafe like a drunken man. "I really need some boost for my brain to start coming up with solutions. You wouldn't believe how many calories thinking burns! that's why at least half of the councillors are so fat, no brain activity detected! Now go and you may only come back with a sandwich and some water!"

I responded with a mock curtsey. "Just tell me, who was the princess again?"

Nuvra just giggled, waved it off and looked into another book to see what the cryptic message meant.

* * *

Link PoV

_I couldn't sleep._

It was dark outside, Sera's cat, Link (I still couldn´t get over the fact that she named her cat after me!), was out and sang too the moon. _Meow, meeeooow! _I would gladly join him, but couldn't, because I couldn't risk going into wolf-mode at the moment.

I couldn't sleep.

An owl hooted in a tree nearby, singing with Link, the cat, to the moon. _Meow, meeeow, hoot, hoot._

I couldn't sleep

The frogs joined them with their quaking-noises. _Meow, meeeow, hoot, hoot, quack, quackle, quack. _Their melody usually didn't bother me, in fact usually it worked like a lullaby.

I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't sleep, because of a new member participating in their nighly song. They were located in my cellar, named Ezio and Branko. Those two snored. _Meow, meeeow, hoot, hoot, quack, quackle, quack, knunchhhh, KNUNCHHHHH, __**KNUNCHHHHH**__!_

Groaning I rolled onto my left side and covered my ears with everything I could. My pillow, my blanket, my hands. _**KNUNCHHHHH! **_It didn't matter what I tried, it didn't help. The sounds of their snoring penetrated even the thickest defenses I had put up. I even tried counting goats, but it didn't help. So I lay wide-awake and had nothing to do to prevent thoughts of Midna.

_How is she?_

_What is she doing right now?_

_Is she still thinking of me?_

_Did she find someone else?_

_Does she still love me? Did she ever love?_

_Why did she..._

_**KNUNCHHHHH!**_

Growling I threw the pillow to the kitchen. _I only want my peace! Shut up!_

_**KNUNCHHHHH**_

Angrily stomped to the ladders and got out of my own house. I couldn't believe it. They were here not longer than a day and they already kicked me out of my own house. I jumped down from the platform and went to Epona.

I lay down next to her and let sleep finally claim me.

I woke up because someone shook me awake: "Link? Wake up!"

Groggily I opened my eyes and sat up: "What is it?"

"What are you doing out here?"

"Sleeping." I yawned while rubbing my eyes, seriously I needed more sleep. I was so tired.

Ilia looked at me worried. "And why couldn't you do it in there. The wolf is still out there. You could have been hurt by it."

"You have not heard them snore. It was horrible. Any second longer in there and I swear I would have gone insane. I'd rather be eaten by that wolf than hear one more snoring person in my life!" I stretched and felt my joints popping into place. A content grin slipped on my face. Much better.

"Gross, can't you do that while no one is in hearing reach? Anyway it can't be that bad."

"Go in and hear for yourself." I mumbled and lay back down.

"Okay. I would have done that anyway. Uli asked me to deliver some juice that helps with morning sickness."

My head perked up at that. _Morning sickness?_ "She's not in their vomiting, right?"

"It could be possible, why?"

"If that's the case, I'm not going in there any more. Vomit reeks for months and I'm not putting up with vomit on top of snoring!" I stood up and ruffled my hair. _Since I turned into a wolf my senses have gotten better. It has pros and consand now I am definitely experiencing a huge drawback. What have I done to deserve this? I better get accustomed with sleeping on the floor again._

"Stop being such a baby." Ilia snickered and went up to the ladder. "My dad snores like King Bublin and you don't see me whining and sleeping outside on the cold, hard floor."

"Tch, like you ever heard King Bublin snore." I turned away and went to Epona. "You go in there. Epona and me are going to the spring. It's time for the weekly morning bath!"

Together we went to the spring. Epona went ahead, while I stripped to my under-wear and took the brush. I joined Epona, but when I got near enogh she began jumping around and splashing water everywhere. Laughing I splashed water at her what earned me a delightful neigh. When both of us were dripping wet, the splashing creased and I rubbed Epona's back gently with the brush, then I brushed her neck and her legs. When I finished my hairy was already dry from the warm morning sun.

I loved morning bathes, because nothing could spoil them.

"So this is where you Ordonians bath." I heard Ezio´s annoying voice behind me. "Not that bad, I guess, but nothing beats a tub. It's much more civilised."

Well, Ezio could spoil everything

"And what are doing here, if bathing here is so primitive?" I spat.

"Wow, ill-tempered even early in the morning? Did you not sleep well?" Ezio mocked and took off his shirt.

"Oh. I did sleep well, after getting out of your snoring ear-shot. Seriously how can you snore louder than King Bublin." I replied as I regarded his torso. "Wow. You two not only sound alike but you even look alike!"

"Are you comparing me to that monster? How would you know? A little goat-herder like you would never survive even catching a glimpse of King Bublin, because he is a cruel monster!"

"Oh I had my fair share of encounters with him. And when you get to know him better and talk to him he isn't such a bad guy." I smiled. It had been quite a shock that he could speak, but after that he was quite helpful.

"It can talk? Ha and I'm Princess Zelda!"

"No really. I was quite shocked myself. But really you two are very much alike, perhaps you even smell alike? No I don't want to know."

"Are you looking for trouble?" Ezio asked while curling his fists.

"Perhaps." I responded and rolled my shoulder, the spring-water had already done its wonders and now it was as good as new. "Come and show me what you've got!"

* * *

Midna PoV

It has pros and cons being a princess. But always getting what you want and not be questioned is a big plus. The kitchen staff is always very generous when I go there to get something to eat. Although our food stock leaves a lot to be desired, they always try to accomplish making my wished-for dishes, that were getting stranger each passing day.

Now, after another worthwhile kitchen visit, I set out for the library with a carafe water, a twilian-styled sandwich and spiced-shadow fruit with fish floating next to me, thanks to my magic. At a corner I nearly bumped into Kenad, the ever-annoying councillor, who loved to pry into my affairs. I hated his attitude and right now I wasn´t in the mood to talk to him.

"Princess! What an honour to see you. If I am allowed to ask why are you wandering in the hallways?" he asked with his slimy voice.

"Can't I go and grab a snack at the kitchen in my own castle? If you would excuse me? I'm busy" I spat and strode past him._ Please, don't let him see the suspicious food because I can't let him get suspicious. If he found out about the baby it would be the baby's doom._

"A spiced-shadow fruit with fish? A rather odd choice for a princess." Kenad commented and followed me. _Damn the goddesses! Why did he have to notice it? Why had it to be Kenad I ran into, not a dumb Councilor or a servant, that wouldn't ask questions? I need an excuse! Think Midna, think! _"Wouldn´t a spiced-shadow fruit salad with tree-juice be more appropriate?"

I laughed nervously. "I am trying out new dishes. Wouldn't it be wonderful if I discovered a new delicious, cheap dish to cover our food expenses?" _How can I cast him off? The more time I spend with him the more will he get suspicious and there is no way I'm leading him to the library. That would arise many suspicions!  
_

"That would be wonderful indeed, but what does it look like if the princess herself is experimenting?" He asked and headed towards my chambers. _There I could lose him! Just pretend to go to the toilet._

"It looks like I actually care for my kingdom and not sit the whole day around doing nothing. This is my way of serving the kingdom." I got to the door leading to my chambers. "If you would excuse me I have private business to attend to. And you should go back to work." I replied with a smile.

Kenad nodded and went away._ Safe, for now._ I quickly closed the door behind me and exhausted leaned against it. I was at risk when meeting one of the Council. One little slip-up could mean the end of my baby. And now that it was getting obvious it was getting even more difficult to hide my pregnancy.

* * *

There you guys have it. There wasn´t really a plot with the Link PoV and I don´t like that. Next chapter will be better! I promise! ... Let´s hope.

Any questions? Did you like it? Why? Why not? Review, so that the next chapter will be even better!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Okay. I wrote another chapter... Hmm

I´m soo happy because of all the reviews I got from you!

Just one question. Is anyone interested in pictures of characters or something else? I need something to do in History class and when creativity strikes I could draw some pics.

But now I proudly present you Chapter 10

* * *

Chapter 10

Link PoV

Nothing beats an early morning-exercise! I felt so great right now, that I could hug a tree or the whole world, or maybe not. Thanks to my fight versus Ezio this morning I had let off all steam, that had been bottled up for the last months. But although it had been liberating it wasn't a challenge. Ezio may have been the best hunting-kid, but to be honest I never heard of one before.

At first Ezio had greatly underestimated me, I was rewarded with the satisfaction of punching him in his snotty face, thus giving him a bloody nose in return. That had felt so good! After the hit, he grew more cautious circling me uncertain waiting for an opening. Of course I gave him none, I had way too much fun. So I let him run his circles and watched him.

While it was funny to see him search desperately for an opening, after some minutes it got a little boring, so I decided to put in some action. Since his foot had slipped on the wet stones I could launch myself at him, exploiting his minimal lack of attention. I rewarded him with a black eye as bonus. After a quick punch into his midsection, Ezio doubled over in pain and fell into the healing water. Of course, the water had already begun its magic. I didn't want him to drown, so I dragged him to the shore and, after depositing him there, I left.

The fun had ended way too quickly, but right now I felt satisfied. Much better than yesterday. Much better than last week. I sat with my back against a tree on the Ranch, humming the tune I learned at the Sacred Grove. In my hands were a piece of lumber and a knife. I began cutting the wood, carving a little wooden figure, a wolf. Out of the corner of my eyes I observed the goats, which were peacefully grazing next to Epona, who was enjoying the cool bucket of water I had provided her with.

Smiling I leaned back and let the wind play with my dirty blond hair. How peaceful...Just perfect to catch up on the endless hours I lay in my bed not finding sleep because of two snoring men. Just perfect for a little short nap.

But my much deserved sleep was prevented again by angry stomping boots on the trail leading to the Ranch. I knew them well, too well.

Groaning, I opened my left eye to see my fears confirmed. Ilia was approaching with a furious expression on her face.

"Link!" she shrieked walking vigorously towards me. "What have you done?"

I closed my eye pretending not to know what she was talking about and yawned.

"Don't act innocent! How could you beat the living daylights out of Ezio, he is a guest none the less." She yelled and huffed. "Now, answer me."

Ilia was scary when she was angry. But which woman was not?

"He... he kinda deserved it?" I asked with a little squeaky voice and covered my head with my arms

"Oh... please continue. I'm all ears." She said with a way too sweet voice.

"Ehh... I can't stand him?"

"That's not a good reason."

"I couldn't sleep because of him?"

"That is not good either."

"He... he thinks he is the mightiest here and I just taught him a lesson?"

"That's all you can come up with?" Ilia asked while getting louder and louder. "You broke his nose!" Ilia roared. I couldn't help but feel proud of that. "You better apologize!"

"No way! He insulted my family!"

Ilia stopped at this. "He did what?"

"He thinks we are an uncivilized bunch of monkeys!" I over-exaggerated.

"Really?" Ilia asked with a raised eyebrow.

I paused ."Okay, I lied with the monkeys, but the rest is true."

"I think I can forgive you under these circumstances, but you will apologize anyway." Ilia chided and went back to the village. "Are you coming?"

"But... the goats..." She gave me the look. "... will be fine by themselves, right?"

She just smiled and I followed her. _Women are scary!_

* * *

Midna PoV

After I had calmed down I opened the door carefully and peeked into the hallways before entering them, so I wouldn't crash into a councillor again. Safely, I got back to the library where a beaming Nuvra expected me.

"How long did it take you to go to the kitchen and back?" Nuvra asked with a raised eye-brow. "While you were away on your get-the-food-mission I found something very interesting, you know?"

"I had a run-in with this stupid, fat jerk, Kenad. I think he's on the verge of finding out. We need to do something fast."

Nuvra just smiled, stood up and began singing with a cheery voice: "In our dark lands, there is a forest. Dark, obscure, black. Next to it are the mountains, darker, obscurer, even more black. Then there is the Twilia lake. Just like black glass. It is even darker than the mountains. But it also holds the way to the shiny land!"

"Lake Twilia?" I repeated as my eyes lit up. "_Lacus te mentiritur._ The lake mirrors you! That's what it meant. And now that you mentioned it is kind of obvious. It really looks like a giant mirror."

Nuvra just nodded and took her sandwich. "Yeah. And … what's that?" She asked pointing at my rather unique choice of a meal.

"That, my dear friend is a spiced-shadow fruit with fish. You want to try?" I twirled the fruit with the motion of my finger in front of Nuvra's face.

She winced, because of the fishy smell. "I'd rather not. Enjoy your meal." She bit into her sandwich. "Anyway, I looked more into Lake Twilia. In a old dusty book we somehow overlooked, I found a legend." She ended with a scary look and a deep voice.

I frowned at her dramatic pause. "Yeah? Please continue!"

"When the first Twili were banished the mirror hadn't been built, yet. The Lake was used. Later the mirror was built to have the connection directly in the desert-prison." Nuvra explained.

_Shadow and Light are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. _Zelda´s words at my department echoed in my mind. "Shadow and Light are two sides of the same coin..." I mumbled. "Hey Nuvra! If Hyrule and Twilight were one, like a coin... then wouldn't the deepest hole be the most imminent place to the other world?"

Nuvra's eyes lit up like a candle. "That´s it Midna! Twilia Lake may be filled with water, but it is the most deepest place we have here and if the other side's deepest spot is in the same place as Lake Twilia... That would mean that there would be the connection."

"Hyrule has a huge lake, too. Lake Hylia. Now that I think about it they look very much alike. It has to be the answer to the mysterious note! We just need to go to Lake Twilia, I say these words and the baby gets to Link!" I exclaimed.

Nuvra smiled. "This is wonderful! Now we have the solution! We only have to hide your pregnancy as good as we can right now." Nuvra thought a little and then snapped her fingers. "The best way is to get you out of here. Away from Kenad and the Councillors."

"Like a vacation?" I asked.

"Yeah! But where should we go?"

"The Royal Family owns a holiday house at Lake Twilia. So that would be no problem. The problem is, I can't have a vacation: I'm the Princess!" I pointed out.

"And I'm the librarian! The Council has everything under control. You could say, that you are still stressed because of the Zant incident and need a break. I'm sure everyone noticed your stressed state, so they won't ask questions."

"You sure?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course! Now we don't have time to loose, we need to pack!" Nuvra shouted in glee and excitement. "We are going on a vacation!"

* * *

***Time Skip → Midna is due in one week***

* * *

Link PoV

Since Ezio and his family arrived a lot had changed in Ordon. There was a new house next to Rusl's house, where said family lived and I was really glad to get them out of my house. Ezio and I were still not on good terms, but I was a little bit thankful for his presence, because near him I could get some stream out.

Ilia, instead, liked being around the snobby-hunting-club-kid. They spend much time together laughing and talking. Don't get me wrong I wasn't jealous or anything like that. While Ilia and Ezio talked I was with the kids, where we got another addition: Ricardo. He was a quiet baby, unless you separated him from his mother. If you did, even people in Castle Town would hear him wailing. I was so glad that I didn't have to put up with baby cries!

Ezio's parents were good people. We got along quite well. I found it very amusing that they still hadn't figured out that I was the hero. But they never did ask. Perhaps they thought the hero was very busy on a trip through Hyrule on a mission from her highness.

The whole village liked the family and now they were part of our family and got used to our customs and living style.

Right now I was with Colin. He had begged me to show him some sword tricks and I couldn't resist his puppy eyed look.

"Hey, Link?" Colin asked quietly as I hit the straw-puppet furiously.

"Hmm?" I sheathed the Ordon Sword and wiped the sweat on my fore-head away.

"Why did you do it?"

I looked at him questioningly.

"I mean why did you save Hyrule, after Ilia, Beth, Talo, Malo and I were safe? You were hurt because of that, right? You could have waited for the soldiers to solve it, but you did it all alone. So why? Why did you save Hyrule?"

I just stared at the sky. _Midna. _"It just felt wrong not to do it. Everyone needed me. This was what I've been born for. See." I held out my left hand where the Triforce of Courage was slightly visible.

"Is that..." Colin asked as he eyed the mark carefully.

"It's the Triforce, the mark of the Goddesses. It was my destiny to kill the man who was behind all these horrors, Colin."

Colin stared at me intensely. "But that wasn't all. I know you, Link. Only because it was your destiny you wouldn't have gone so far."

I bit my lip and turned away. It still hurt to think of her and talk of her.

"There was this girl. She asked me to do it and I promised..." I heard galloping and stopped.

After a while Colin noticed it, too. We both turned to the source, the path to Hyrule Field. Soon a soldier on a horse came around the corner.

"Good day. I was send by her highness Princess Zelda to for Sir Link of Ordon. Where may I find him?" The soldier inquired with an overbearing voice.

"Right here." I mumbled with a raised hand and waved.

The soldier blinked and after some seconds began to laugh. "Yeah, right. As if a still wet boy like you could save Hyrule and her highness."

"You think you would have done a better job?" I asked as I slowly drew my sword, my expression unwavering. "Wait, I know you. Weren't you one of the great soliers at Telma's bar who werre willing to escort the Zora boy, but got wet feet?"

His eyes darted from my eyes to my sword and back. "I... I think, I guess I'll believe you. This is for you." He handed me a letter with the royal seal and Zelda's delicate writing on it. _Sir Link._

I furrowed my eye brows and ripped it open.

_Dear Link_

_I am very sorry that have not contacted you in the last months. I was busy with the kingdom. The reason I contact you now may sound unimportant, but , Link, do not forget I am blessed with the Triforce of Wisdom and foresight. Recently, I have disturbing visions. I see Midna and..._

I didn't need to read more. My hand was already on the flute, then Epona's Song echoed across the lands. When Colin called after me to wait I was already on Epona's back galloping towards Hyrule Field.


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don´t own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Guys! I love you so super much! So many reviews! I love you, I love you! We broke the 100! Jeah! Much thanks to **J skater** for writing the 100th review!

And suuper much thanks to all who made this possible, namely you! Everyone who reads this story and of course everyone who wrote a review in the first place. Thank you all sp much! I love you!

Soo, here is the next chapter! I had really problems writing Link´s PoV, so I did it this time from a third person´s view. Tell me if you liked it, because honestly it´s much easier^^. And then I had to shift to Midna´s PoV. Man that was complicated. But somehow I finished. I hope you like it!

Chapter 11

The midday-sun heated the grass of Hyrule Field mercilessly. In spring the grass was always a lush green, but when summer came it slowly turned into a yellow-brownish green. Routes that were used frequently hadn't even the slight green tint anymore. In appropriately one to two months Hyrule Field would be back to its former glory after the early autumn downpours started. However, it hadn't rained a single drop for a week so the air was hot and dusty.

Not many roamed in Hyrule Field at this time of the year, the Weeks of Din's Fire, as the locals had dubbed these dry weeks that annually came just before autumn. It was simply not comfortable travelling in the heat, even with a huge barrel of water. Without a barrel full of refreshing water it was unbearable: the heat made you sweat, the dry air sucked every bit of liquid from your skin and out of your breath and the dust made your mouth and windpipe turn itchy and dry.

It was common sense that one must be out of his mind to go unprepared into Hyrule Field in the Weeks of Din's Fire. But one boy rode without a single drop of water on him on his brown horse not paying attention to the heat, the dust or his horse's or his own exhaustion. Both of them were exhausted and the sun didn't make it any better. In fact the hot blob of heat mocked the duo by cooking the bare shoulders and upper back of the boy. The rough fabric of the Ordonian clothes was glued to his skin. There were white strains on the cloth, the salty remains of his sweat. But it didn´t bother him. In fact, he didn´t even seem to notice.

His thoughts were jumbled, out of order, but at the same focused on one thing or more likely a person. To anyone outside his head it would be just a chaotic, muddled mass of thoughts, unanswered questions, worries, presumptions, fears, hopes, memories and... questions, again. The boy was really not in a state of mind a writer could make an understandable, logical first person point of view of this very boy who galloped over Hyrule Field (on his horse) leaving a huge cloud of dust in his wake.

Here is a sample of his thoughts to prove this statement:

"_Midna!"_

"_What did she see?"_

_A tear is shattering a mirror._

"_Is she there?"_

"_I love you!"_

"_What could have happened?"_

"`_I see you later`"_

_An imp... no a beautiful gorgeous princess._

"_Why didn't I read the damn letter until the end?"_

"_Did you even love me?"_

The thoughts in this poor boy's head were so chaotic, many of them going through his head at the same time... it was a wonder the boy had not a huge headache. Luckily he didn't have to worry about taking the right way. His loyal companion knew the way by heart and even though she was at her limit, she pushed past them, because she felt the distress and urgency of the boy sitting on her back and staring with his beast-like eyes forwards, where Hyrule Castle was visible in the distance.

Slowly the castle got bigger. While the duo came closer to the castle, the boy got more and more inpatient, urging his companion to go faster. Quickly they arrived at the stony, grey steps leading to Castle Town. The boy, fully aware that his horse wouldn't take him beyond these stairs, was already dismounting mumbling quick words of gratitude with a hoarse voice: „Thanks, Epona! I promise to bring some carrots."

The horse, Epona, was already on her way to find something to drink and neighed only in reply: _"You'd better"_

The boy smiled, turned around, but while ascending the stairs he had a coughing fit. His eyes watered and he had to grab a near wall for support. When he could breathe nearly normally again he set foot into Castle Town. His dry throat screamed for water, so he did the most sensible thing he did today and purchased a bottle of Spring Water from a Goron vendor. It was empty before he was past the fountain, but he felt much better now.

* * *

Midna PoV

The waves crashed gently against the beach. The dark water smelled fresh and a little bit salty. I couldn't suppress a content sigh. Nuvra and I had been at Lake Twilia for the last month and had both enjoyed our time here.

To get my vacation was easier than expected. Many had noticed my mood swings and were fully aware of the fact that the Invasion had taken its toll on me. These were enough reasons to let me go for two months! Of course I gave Nuvra a vacation, too, and we both made our way to Lake Twilia.

The last month had been very relaxing and my baby grew. If a Councilor visited me right now, there wouldn't be any hiding it. So I was really glad for this secluded house near the lake's shore.

Nuvra had shooed me outside, because she wanted to prepare something. I had just shrugged and had gone outside. At first I wasn't curious. It was Nuvra, who we're speaking of here, so she probably had had another crazy idea. So I waited. I waited and waited, but Nuvra still hadn't come to get me.

_What was she doing in there? _I glanced at the shadows to find out how much time had passed. _For six hours? I'm getting hungry here!_

Sighing I let myself fall on my back. Above me Tweeny Trees rustled. When I had been a little girl my mom and I planted them. By now they had grown much: they resembled spruces from Faron Woods, their pins had a dark green color, the trunks were sturdy and they smelled like Link. Or rather Link smelled a little like them.

I couldn't help but feel safe. Nothing could harm the baby, Nuvra or me here. Not when his smell was all over the place. I smiled and closed my eyes, swimming in images of him. I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep.

"Midnaaaa!" Nuvra shouted from the house. I sat up and saw her waving enthusiastically at me. Her eyes were sparkling. "Come here. Your super surprise is finished!"

Smiling, I got to my feet and went to the house. The sounds of the waves and the Tweeny's scent decreased a little, but they were still there, lulling me into relaxation.

The house was nothing special. There was simply _one_ dining room, a living-room, a kitchen, two bathrooms and three bedrooms. I could hear Nuvra in the third bedroom. The one we hadn't used. I crocked my eyebrows. What was she doing there? Shrugging I ascended the cute, little stairs leading to the bed- and bathrooms.

"Nuvra, what are you doing...?" I asked while opening the doors, but stopped at what I saw.

Bright, was the first word that came to my mind. The walls were painted in a (for the Twilight realm) light shade of blue there were some runes in a darker shade: Love, Health, Laugh... Nuvra stood next to the open window that filled the room with the Tweeny´s scent, Link's scent.

"This is..." I began, but found no words. I noticed the bed was ready to sleep on with a blue blanket and pillow. There was even a box filled with toys. I felt my eyes prickle.

"This is the little one's room." Nuvra said proudly and stepped away from the window letting my eyes rest on the most beautiful cradle I had seen in my life. It was simple, but at the same time beautiful. I couldn't stop my tears and let them flow freely. "I made it all by myself. I guess if I wasn't librarian I would be a great craftswoman!"

"It's perfect." I whispered and ran to Nuvra to hug her. "Thank you, Nuvra. Thank you so much!"

Nuvra patted my back. "Hey! No problem! Every baby needs a cradle!"

"But... it won't be able to sleep in it." I cried. My baby needed to get away from here as fast as possible.

Nuvra wiggled her finger. "Midna! You weren't thinking of sending the little one away just after it's born, were you?"

I sniffled. "Of course. The baby needs to be safe! We have to send it to Link right away." I slapped my hands over my mouth. _That sounded cruel._

"But you want it here with you, right?" Nuvra asked. She stared at me with her big eyes.

"Of course I do!" I shouted. "But I can't, it's not safe." I went to the windows, drowning in his scent. _Link._

"And that´s where you are wrong."

"Huh?" I asked and turned to her. The Tweeny's scent reminded me of him again. Despite all my worries I felt safe here, I just didn't want to see it.

"It is safe here. We still have some vacation left and it's your house. No one's here that wants to harm the little one." Nuvra smiled and looked out of the window. Maybe she was right.

The picture of Kenad crossed my mind. He was smiling sinisterly. "But it's so risky!" I shouted. I couldn't endanger my baby, because I wanted some time with it. That was just wrong! But I wanted to hold my baby so badly, feed it so badly, sing a lullaby to it. I wanted this time so badly!

A new wave of tears flooded out of my eyes. "I can't. I can't. I can't." I whispered, but Nuvra just shook her head and took my hands.

"Sometimes it's fine to be selfish, Midna."

* * *

As Link stood before the majestically gates of Hyrule Castle and the guards in their shiny armour, who regarded him suspiciously, he couldn't help but glance at his dusty, dirty farmer clothes. He didn't even had shoes on. _At least I didn't leave without a sword..._ he reminded himself thinking fondly of the training session he had with Colin not three hours ago.

Link stood there for a while, and then he stepped sheepishly toward the gates.

"Halt!" One of the guards shouted and went towards Link. "Where do you think you are going?"

"I'm here to see Zelda?" Link replied and scratched the back of his head.

The other guard seemed enraged: "To you it's Princess Zelda and why do you think _you_, a shabby farm-boy, would be getting an audience with her highness? Do you think you are the only one who wants to talk to her highness about his problems?"

"... Well, she wants to talk to me, actually." Link replied and stepped closer to the gates, but the guards stopped him, again, and began laughing.

Link was getting annoyed by now. He had rushed here, not wasted a second and now these two guards were stopping him, the Hero of Twilight! If he remembered correctly Hylian guards weren't the bravest bunch there was, but rather one of the most laughable. Link laughed inwardly at the picture from Telma's bar, where the _brave _soldiers of Hyrule offered to take Ilia, Telma and the Zora child, who had been the Zora prince, to Kakariko. They had acted all high and mighty proclaiming their manliness loudly until Telma mentioned the monsters. Suddenly everything was silent as the soldiers ran away.

Guards were a real laugh when they faced a danger and Link personally considered him quite skilled with his sword, so he approached the gates, again.

"Hold it, farm-boy!" The first guard shouted and crossed his lance with his partner´s, blocking Link´s way efficiently. "Who are you anyway?"

"Link." he said plainly not affected by the weapons in front of him. When the guards motioned for him to continue he added: "Link of Ordon Village."

The guards on the right began laughing heavily: "Never heard of you! Why would her highness want to speak to a nobody like you?"

The other guard joined him: "Yeah. Be honest! You just want to see a princess with your own eyes. Haha. Then you fall for her and want to marry her. Tell you what, farm-boy, you are not the first one with such fantasies."

Link was getting furious. "She really wants to talk to me. Marry Zelda? No way! We are just friends."

"I already told you to you it's Princess Zelda for you!" Guard 2 shouted.

"I don't care!" Link shouted back, while getting into a staring contest with him.

"But you should address her highness with the proper respect she deserves! After everything she did for the kingdom during the Twilight Invasion."

"I saved your hairy ass just as much as she did!"

"How do you kno... Ha! How would a dirty farm boy like you ever save a whole kingdom!"

"With my sword, of course. Do you want to feel my blade?" Link threatened while grinning excited to fight.

"I would be glad to wipe that grin of your face with my Isabelle." he said as he swung his lance around.

"Isabelle?" Link laughed. "What a pretty name for such a deadly stick."

"Why you!" he shouted while stomping towards me, I pulled out my sword waiting for his attack.

However, before we clashed Guard one stepped in. "Calm down, both of you. Now, Link, how did you meet the princess."

Link backed away. He was right. He shouldn´t be starting fights with authorities, even with Hylian guards.

"It's a bit complicated." Link started. "But to say it briefly. I am the Hero of Twilight."

A pause. _Had they finally realized their mistake doubting him? _Link wondered and walked confidently forward.

Then the guards broke out in laughter holding their stomachs. "The hero of Twilight heard that?"

"A Farm Boy!"

"Farm boy, I tell you there had been better imposters. They had even tried to look like him, you know green dress and cap. But they were laughable, too."

"Yeah, in fact this Tingle guy, selling maps could do a better job. But you are a whole different story!"

"You are not only looking like a farm boy, you are a farm boy. Sorry to crush your fantasies again, but you are not a hero and will never marry a princess."

Link looked slightly distressed after that comment, he thought of Midna right away. _He is right I might never get my chance. But Zelda said she saw Midna... I need to get through here right now. _Fire burned in Link's eyes as he approached the guards. "Back off."

"No." The guards whimpered, but held their ground. Normally Link would be impressed at this rare display of courage, but right now he was annoyed.

"I said..." Link began, but was interrupted by the commanding voice of a certain princess: "What is going on here?"

"Your highness!" The guards jumped slighted and straightened their back. "This farm boy, here wished to speak to you, but he is a waste of your time. We tried to send him away, but he won't back off."

"I shall judge myself if he is worth my time." The Princess decided and regarded the dirty young man in front of her. "State your name and business."

"Seriously, Zelda. You would make a much better guard than these, too." Link stated. "My name happens to be Link and I'm here because of the letter you send me."

The Princess did a double-take and then saw for his blue eyes. "Link? Is that you? My, you do look different in these clothes. And why do you look so dirty? I can understand why they didn't let you through. And why are you already here? I sent the letter away yesterday. "

"I barely read the first four lines of your letter and was off. Hyrule Field is very dusty at the moment, so please excuse my appearance. Could we please talk in private about... your dream?" Link asked and stepped away from the guards, who let him fortunately pass.

* * *

That's it!

Don't forget to review!


	13. Life is good

Oh my god, guys. I am really ashamed of myself! I mean. How long has it been half a year? I thought I wouldn´t keep you waiting so long but my mind always made stupid excuses and I wasn´t really motivated writing Zelda fanfiction, because I have been obsessing over another game. How could I!

Anyways, your reviews brought me back to my senses, reviving me from a complete lack of motivation! Thank you so much guys! Soo I pulled myself together and wrote this in the last days!

I hope you like it. It probably wasn´t worth the wait, because nothing would AFTER A WHOLE SEMI-YEAR!

Disclaimer: I honestly do not own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Chapter 13... wait no it´s 12

_'It's has been a long time, it seems.' _the dishevelled hero clad in dirty traditional Ordonian farming clothes thought as he followed the princess. She wore, unlike the hero, her usual white, lilac garments. As she strode through the lucent and well-kept hallways, her golden hair flowed behind her like a gentle streamlet.  
Both of them made an odd couple and the some of the court couldn't help the mocking grin, when they saw the rather undignified appearance of said hero. But the hero and princess couldn't care less, both of them had more pressing thoughts in their heads.

The princess was still organizing her thoughts of how to confront Link with the news. She herself wasn't quite sure of her dreams and didn't want to burden him further with worries of his beloved, for he already had a difficult time to cope with Midna's unexpected departure.

The hero's thoughts still were focused on his princess with the twilight-coloured hair, but he was also quite surprised of the state the castle was in now. Gone were the gloomy atmosphere and the debris that had littered the hallways when he had visited it thelast time. Now everything was so august and the delightful chitter of people rushing to their purposes brought a little smile to his face. All this was because of him. Him and Midna.

Still focussing on the castle he didn't notice the princess stopping in front of a sturdy wooden door. He nearly bumped into her, but thanks to his reflexes he was spared the humiliation.

With a smile Zelda opened the door. "Please come in and make yourself comfortable." She said and gestured to a chair.

Link just nodded and lowered himself onto the comfortable chair. Sighing he relaxed his muscles, which had begun to complain since his adrenaline rush had stopped.

"May I get you something to drink or eat?" Zelda asked politely. When she saw him nodding his head again she began to prepare a glass of water and put some grapes onto a plate. With a worried look she put it on the table. "I didn't expect you to come this fast, Link. You shouldn't have rushed here. You could have hurt yourself."

Link just sighed and replied with a hoarse voice. "You spoke of Midna. Of course I would come here as fast as possible." He took a huge gulp of water and plopped a grape into his mouth. "And what is up with her? What did you see? She isn't hurt, is she?"

"I am not quite sure myself." She admitted.

"What? I thought you knew everything due to the Triforce of Wisdom!" Link was getting nervous. "So you don't know if she's all right?"

"She is at the moment. And she won't be hurt in the near future. She found a good friend." Zelda explained sounding a reassuring.

"And how do you know that?" Link asked dubiously, emptying his glass of water. "Could I have another one?"

Zelda nodded and refilled the glass with water. "It's a feeling." When she saw his questioning stare, she explained. "Midna and I always had a special connection. I guess this is partly because both of us are magic using princesses and partly because my soul once was part of hers."

Link grew interested as he heard this. "So you could feel her emotions, even when she's over there?"

Zelda nodded. "But only strong emotions."

"So what did she feel?" Link asked quietly looking out of the window and observing the rooftops.

"At first…it was loneliness and of course boredom. She is Midna, of course. No Midna with a short attention span." At this Link chuckled. "Then it became a jumbled mess of despair, loneliness and… happiness. After some time her emotions stabilized. Tension, but still the happiness remained accompanied by some kind of sadness. I can´t really tell you what's going on with her. In the last months it has become nearly impossible to read her."

Zelda gave Link some time to process all this and helped herself with some grapes. "I see."

"Hey, Link?" Zelda began, blushing a little.

"Hmm. What is it?" He asked and regarded her.

"Did you and Midna… er. You know." Link raised an eyebrow confused and took another gulp of water. Zelda's face grew even redder as she said quickly. "Did you guys do it?"

In an instant Link was red as a tomato and had granted Zelda a refreshing shower by spitting the water out of his mouth. Coughing he apologized, while Zelda dried her face with a handkerchief. After an awkward silence she began again. "So?"

The still red-faced Link replied. "And if we did?"

"Did you do it, or not?" Zelda pressed further.

"Yes. We kind of did it?" Link answered with as much dignity as he could muster. "Why?"

"Just a thought. Nothing important."

"I see." Link said and turned back to regarding the rooftops.

"Anyways." Zelda coughed slightly. "My dream." This got Link's full attention again. "There was a lake, which looked just like Lake Hylia. I saw Midna. She was at a house… with another female Twili. They did something. Then there was light, Midna seemed really sad and her friend looked as if the light pained her somehow." Zelda stopped

"And then." Link urged, wanting to know what happened next.

"Nothing. That was it."

Silence. "And what does this have to do with me?" asked Link, not understanding the meaning of Zelda's dream. "So there was Midna near a house with her friend."

"No. That's not important. It's the light." Zelda explained.

"I'm afraid I am missing the point. So there was light. So what? Everywhere is light…"

"…except in the Twilight Realm." Zelda continued. Realisation dawned on Link's face.

"Light in the Twilight Realm would mean…" Link´s breath hitched. "… another passage."

Zelda nodded.

"Where?" Link asked.

"The Lake. Remember when I said that Hyrule and Twilight were two sides of a coin?" Link nodded. "Lake Hylia and theirs are connected, like two sides of a mirror. So the lakes are something like a giant mirror!"

"Awesome Zelda! Midna's probably opening it, so that she can get here! I'm on my way to Lake Hylia!" Link shouted enthusiastically jumping out of his chair. He embraced Zelda. "Thank you, Zelda. Thank you so much."

"Stop that. You are getting me dirty." She giggled and he grinned back. It was as if he had been reborn, just because she gave him a little bit hope. She didn't want to crush his little happy moment by pointing out the possibility that she might be wrong. No, that would have been cruel. "But please, Link, don't rush there now. It's nearly night. Let Epona rest. There is plenty of time tomorrow."

"But…" Link pouted.

"No buts. Even Heroes need their rest and I will gladly provide you with that." Zelda smiled as she left the room. "Behind that door is a bath. Take one. I'll get some maids to get you something to eat and some fresh clothes."

Link just nodded, when she closed the door behind her.

For a while the princess lingered at the door. Then she whipped away from the door, hurrying to her chambers. She wore a thoughtful expression on her face, barely even noticing the maids, whom she had given the task of taking care of Link.

Inside her chambers she sat down on her favourite thinking spot: a comfortable bench covered with blankets and pillows. Frowning she thought why Midna was sad, when she would return to Link. As far as she knew Midna would be perfectly happy about that and she couldn't imagine returning to Link was saddening her somehow. But after Link's confession a new possibility had been introduced to her mind.

"But that couldn't be…" Zelda whispered to herself. It would have been too much of a coincidence, so she shook her head. "Yeah, right… As if…"

The next morning was bright and sunny. Link was the earliest person up, preparing for his ride to Lake Hylia. His clothes had been washed, his hair was combed and his eyes sparkled with life like they haven't for the last months. So he stood in the full glory of an Ordonian goat herder in front of Zelda thanking her for her hospitality and for giving him hope of finding Midna again.

"It's the least I could do for you. You saved my kingdom I could never repay you for that." Zelda smiled putting a hand on his shoulder.

Link just grinned. "You don't have to! Thanks again. I'll be going then."

Zelda nodded. "Stay safe."

This moment a messenger chose to barge in. "Your holiness! There are strange things occurring around Lake Hylia." The messenger had to take a breath.

Link's eyes widened as he said that. "Midna." He whispered. "I'll go." Zelda nodded.

"The passage to Lake Hylia has collapsed. Rocks are blocking the way. The Gorons…" The messenger continued only to be interrupted by the shout of Link and Zelda.

"What?"

"The passage to Lake Hylia is blocked."

Link took the messenger by the shoulders and shook him, growling menacing like an animal. "Care to repeat that? I need to go through there! Repair it!"

The messenger was completely intimidated by this and shrieked. "The… the Gorons are working on it. They said they would finish in three days…"

"THREE DAYS? I can´t wait that long. Work faster!" Link shouted furiously.

"They are already working as fast as they can." The messenger whimpered.

"I don't give a Bublin's damn!"

"Link! Control your temper!" Zelda demanded, for she was getting worried about the messenger.

"It is your fault!" He let the messenger, who landed in a heap on the floor, go and pointed at Zelda. "If you hadn't insisted that I stayed here I could meet her!"

"This is just an unlucky coincidence. I'm sure there is another way to Lake Hylia." Zelda, hurt that he blamed her, stated.

Link paused and thought. "Of course! I'll just take the canoe from the spring. I'll be there in no time! thanks, Zelda!" With that he sprinted of to his trusted horse.

Zelda was left speechless. "What mood swings! I wonder if he's pregnant." She mumbled under her breath.

* * *

So now he was back on Epona's back, riding to Zora River. Right now he was in the northern part of Hyrule field. Epona was panting heavily, because she had been running non-stop. Sure, the little break had done wonders, but still she was exhausted from yesterday's ride. So he decided to stop for a moment to give her some rest. He was in a hurry, but he wouldn't let his best friend suffer because of it. So he slowed down and stopped under a tree.

He leaned against the trunk and observed Epona eating some grass. In the northern part of Hyrule it wasn't as hot as in the southern, but permanently being out in the sun was still a little too much for Link. So he enjoyed the shade the tree provided, as Epona enjoyed her well-earned rest.

After some time Link could see a silhouette running towards him. _Probably the postman. _He thought closing his eyes and leaning back.

"Heeeey!"

Link cracked one eyes open. This wasn't the voice of the postman although it was his usual greeting. Link chuckled. _Maybe an apprentice. Why anyone would want such a job is still a mystery to me._

"Hey! You are an Ordonian! Yes! I'm a genius!" A female voice pointed out. "Hi my name is Rian. Nice to meet you!"

The girl was slightly tanned and not as tall as Link. One of her eyes was covered with bandages, the other sparkled like a green gemstone. She was clothed lightly, good for travelling: boots, shorts and a top. She had a belt for throwing-knives on her waist and a slightly curved blade. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Link just nodded at her. "I'm Link."

"It's so good to see you! I have been looking for the village for weeks! But finally I got here!" She smiled.

"I don't want to disappoint you, but this isn't Ordon village. If that's what you are looking for." The girl seemed like a bad postman apprentice. Going north when she was supposed to go south.

"What? Where the hell am I then?" Rian asked clearly confused.

"Up there is the Zora River." Link pointed north, then he pointed south. "And if you go really really far this way you'll find Faron Woods. There is this afro-guy. If you see him ask for the village. I'm sure he'll help you."

"Oh, thanks, man! You see I have a super bad sense of direction."

"I wouldn't have guessed." Link said standing up. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you."

"Yes. Thanks for showing me the way. Bye." The post-girl jogged away waving at him. "See you in Ordon, Link!"

Link gave the strange girl a hesitant wave and mounted Epona. "Why would she meet me in Ordon? Wasn't she a post-girl supposed to deliver a letter to someone in Ordon?" He asked Epona who just snorted. Link chuckled. "Heh. She probably gets there, when I'm returning with such a bad sense of direction."

With a whine the horse sped up and together they rode to the canoe-rental-shop Rapid Ride. When they arrived Link jumped from Epona's back. "Thanks, girl. Get some rest for now. I'll see you later!"

Epona neighed with delight and drank some clear water from the river. Link smiled at that, went to the door and got in.

Not surprisingly, the short-tempered Iza stood there waiting for customers. "Hey, Link, welcome! You know the deal, right? For a rental fee of 20 rupees you get a boat and a guide. You want one?"

Link just nodded. "Of course. Rent me one!" He gave her a red rupee out of his ever-full rupee bag.

"Great, hop in!"

After getting in Link took the paddle. "Thanks."

"No I thank you! Without your constant visits we would have to close! Alright. You set? Then have a good ride!"

Link completely ignored the yellow and red pots hanging from the ceiling, as he didn't want to get an award. He only wanted to get to Lake Hylia. But his previous attempts had taught him how to prevent hitting walls and he did his best to evade them, because it wasn't nice hitting one.

Then, when he finally made it through the endless tunnel he found himself on the surface of Lake Hylia.

Now he just had to wait for Midna to come. Smiling he sat down on the soft grass dangeling his feet in the refreshing water. Life had never felt so good. Link never knew that Midna was doing just the same thing on her side of the mirror.

* * *

The water was cooling her feet. _Really relaxing_. She thought. Patting her enormous belly lightly, she whispered. "Right, little one? You enjoy mommy relaxing, too, right?"

The baby kicked happily in answer. The feeling of Link's baby kicking inside her made her insides go jelly-go and a warm fuzzy feeling spread through her whole being. Another kick and another. "What is it, little one. You hungry? Wait for mommy to get up and eat something, okay?"

Another kick. A little bit painful. "Geez. You are impatient are you. Just..."

Midna stop and cried out in pain. She felt something wet between her legs. "Nuvra? I think it broke."

The reaction was immediate. "What? I'm coming!" Nuvra shouted from the house.

"Hurry!"

In an instant Nuvra was at her side. "We'll have to get you inside. Think you can move?"

Midna just nodded, the pain was slowly diminishing.

Inside Nuvra put Midna on the bed, just as another wave of pain came. "Goddesses! Make it stop, Nuvra!"

"I can't. You'll have to stay calm. Don't worry I read tons of books about this! You will be perfectly fine. I'll get some warm water and towels. Stay here." Nuvra ordered sternly. Then she went to the kitchen.

"As if I could move." Midna gasped in pain and cursed. She could hear water running

"Think of something positive!" Nuvra shouted from the kitchen. So Midna concentrated on her picture of Link. Shaggy, blond hair, sapphire-blue eyes, a caring smile, his ridiculous cap...

"Argh! Why do I have to bear his child and not him! That's unfair!" She cried in pain.

* * *

So yeah... Let´s stop there I honestly don´t know how to write the Midna giving birth scene. So we´ll just skip that by ending this chapter now.

I´m sorry I didn´t write more, but that would have taken longer and yeah... Anyways see you next time... I promise I´ll update... someday.

I´ll probably need a New Year Resolution: Update your FF more frequently...

Oh man! Let´s hope it would take that long!


	14. FUN at Lake TwiHYLIA

Hiya! Did you have a nice Christmas? I had one, but it prevented me to write Child of the Golden Twilight further! I wanted to update four days ago, but I couldn´t because Jesus choose to be born on December 24! Or was that God? Anyway! It´s not my fault!

… Really. Okay, maybe I obsessed on Assassin's Creed Revelations and because it had been so awesome I had to replay the other games, too!

But apart from that it was all because of the divine! Whoa…? No one will believe me? Dang!

Disclaimer: Even if this fan fiction is officially more than one year old, I still do not own Legend of Zelda.

Now it's chapter 13! Fun at Lake TwiHYLIA!

To be honest, Link had imagined his stay at Lake Hylia, yeah… a little bit more packed with action and excitement. Quite understandable as he kind of rushed there and he did not waste a precious second, except for that little break in the afternoon, when he met that weird post-girl or whoever she was. But then again he still was just a mere human or rather a semi-human-wolf with the Triforce of Courage, who saved Hyrule from demise, but who knew of this and would point out that a break was not needed to him? So one break was not unjustified.  
Anyway, he got here really, really fast, because he did not want to miss Midna, but now he was at Lake Hylia, where she was supposed to appear according to Zelda, and nothing had happened so far. So his rather frustrated mood was understandable.

When Link had arrived he spend hours sitting on the small grassy island awaiting Midna's return eagerly just like a little boy would wait for a piece of Uli's world-famous pumpkin cake. He spent his time thinking what to say and what to do if she came:

Option one: kiss her passionately. He liked this one, it had been his first idea and it was simple.  
Option two: cry manly tears and kiss her passionately. This one was more logical, but then again a little bit embarrassing.  
Option three: hug her so tight and never let go so that she could never leave him again and kiss her passionately. He would love to do that, too. However, even Link wasn't strong enough to hold onto Midna for a life time and after their happy reunion he had some other things in mind what to do with her.  
Option four: tell her how much he missed her while crying and hugging her. After that he could kiss her passionately. Not very creative, as option four was just option one, two and three combined.  
Option five: maybe go for a swim with her. This was Lake Hylia one had to take advantage of this!

Of course there were more options and ideas Link had come up with in his long lasting brainstorming period, but these were far-fetched or not appropriate in a T-rated story.

However, when Link noticed that nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far, not counting Fyer, the old odd clown with the cannon, trying to shoot himself up to his business partner Falbi all by himself, but failing miserably to do so, Link took off his shirt and cloth belt he wore around his waist and his sandals, then he jumped into the warm water.

_This would be a lot funnier with Midna! Perhaps we'll do option five after one of the first four.__ Swimming with Midna… _Link nearly drowned because of the images of wet and half-naked Midna splashing water at him and giggling happily. He blushed. _Yeah! I must not forget thi__s option__, it will be__totally awesome__!_

Still with thoughts of a swimming Midna in his head he swam around in Lake Hylia, stopping once to ask a Zora who was guarding the Lakebed Temple if there had been any strange occurrences in the last days. Perhaps he had missed her or something like that, but the Zora shook his fishy head. "Except for Fyer's little stunt this morning there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary"

So Link didn't have to worry about having missed her. He swam another round and then he got back to his pile of clothes.

He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, but no one did so he got out of his wet shorts which he laid down on the grass to let the last rays of sunlight dry them. To not become cold himself, he reached for the leather pouch which had been safely tucked in his pile of clothes. In the pouch lay the gently glowing orange stone he could trigger the transformation with. Again making sure that he wasn't watched he reached out for it and felt his bone structure change and fur sprout all over his body.

Shaking his head to get the groggy feeling away that always accompanied a transformation; he sat down and stared at the horizon where the sun was crimsoning the sky and Earth around it.

_Twilight__._ Link dully noted, but also felt strangely happy. He couldn't shake the feeling that right now something happened that would have a great impact on his life, however he couldn't place the feeling and mused about the Twilight Princess. _Where are you Midna? You __will come, right? Someday you will and if I have to, I'll wait years for you right here._

Suddenly having the animalistic urge to howl to the appearing moon, he did just that, hoping his thoughts and feelings would reach her, at this moment when their worlds were at its closest.

* * *

The light was dimming slightly in the Twilight Realm. The land and lake grew even darker, as the orange-red sky slowly turned into crimson. But while the light was dimming, Midna's smile grew brighter and brighter from second to second. Her sweaty, weak body rested on the bed. She was tired and needed to get some rest, but she couldn't take her eyes from the little bundle, which rested in her arms.

Said bundle consisted of a blue-greyish blanket and a squirmy little baby, who was wrapped in said blanket. The baby was napping at the moment with lips slightly parted and head leaning against Midna's chest. One could make out a cute button-nose, a little smile on the lips and some little orange-red ringlets. The skin had a little olive tone mixed into the slightly tan skin color, which reminded Midna of Link. The baby´s ears were pointed.

The baby weighed more than Midna had expected of such a cute little baby. But perhaps she only felt this way because she was feeling very weak. The baby fit perfectly into her arms and radiated warmth Midna had not felt for some time. Her heart was feeling like butter in the sunlight of Hyrule, melting due to the warming love Midna felt.

Nuvra was preparing some snacks for Midna and herself, since both of them had worked hard and were quite hungry. When she was finished she brought a tray filled with food to the bed, took a seat and began eating. "So, Midna. Have you thought of a name already?"

Midna averted her gaze away from her baby and looked over to Nuvra. "Not really. It needs to be perfect!" Then she took some food for herself. "Do you have any ideas?"

"You want a cute little name for her? What about Liya?" Nuvra asked and took another bite. "I like it or maybe Zakia?"

Midna shrugged her shoulders carefully to not disturb her little girl sleeping in her arms. "These are nice, but they are not really yeah-names for the little one. They don´t fit."

Nuvra nodded. "Maybe you should rest for now. The delivery has really taken its toll on you. I'll get the little one upstairs."

Midna shook her head, not wanting to part with her daughter, yet. "No. I want her to sleep with me, just this night. I want to spend as much time with her as I can in the next three days."

"Only three days, Midna?" Nuvra asked clearly shocked.

Midna nodded sadly. "It is for the best. I can't risk her well-being further."

"Okay. You know what is best." Nuvra whispered and drew the curtains. "Sleep tight!"

Midna nodded, while she could already feel her eyes dropping cradling her daughter gently. "I love you. Good night." she whispered softly into her daughter's ear and then gave in to her exhaustion and fell into blissful sleep.

* * *

Dawn of the first day  
~ 72 hours remain ~

Midna awoke with a smile on her lips. She had not slept so well for months and the reason for that lay next to her. The still unnamed girl had unconsciously grabbed hold of some strand of Midna's vibrant orange hair. Gently Midna pried the hair from the tiny, chubby hands. She noticed that her hair was a tangled mess and her muscles arched. She could really use a warm bath, however she didn't want to leave her little sunshine alone. _She looks so peaceful, just like Link when he sleeps. If she does get her sleeping habits from him, I w__on't have to worry about her waking up. Perhaps, if I hurry…_

Then Midna stared into two sleepy ocean-blue eyes. Startled Midna's own eyes widen. _They look so much like Link's… Just like sapphires. _"Hey, there beautiful. You already awake?" Midna asked with a big smile on her face while planting a small kiss on the baby's forehead. The baby gave a content noise.

"I think I just thought of the perfect name for you." She whispered and stared into the sapphire-blue eyes. "It's Sephiria, because your eyes have such a beautiful shade of blue. They remind me so much of your daddy."

"Oh, Midna! What a beautiful name! It's perfect!" Nuvra squealed. Midna hadn't even noticed her, as she had only been paying attention to Sephiria.

"Nuvra! Don't scare me like that!" Midna laughed.

"So she is awake?" Nuvra asked and Midna nodded. Carefully Nuvra approached the bed. "Hello, Sephiria. Oh my gosh you are so cute! I'm auntie Nuvra and I was the first to see you, when you came out of Mommy. Isn't that great?"

Sephiria blinked at Nuvra's rant and then looked to Midna, who smiled brightly at Sephiria. The little girl made a sucking motion with her mouth. "Oh. You must be hungry." Nuvra noticed. "That's Mommy's job, Sephiria. Auntie Nuvra will go and make some breakfast for Mommy and Auntie Nuvra, okay?"

With that Nuvra vanished into the kitchen.

Midna shook her head at her behavior and then turned to Sephiria. "Shall we get going, then?" She asked, while rolling her shirt up and taking Sephiria into her arms. All these books, which she read for hours about pregnancy, finally were worth a while. Sephiria instinctively found out where to get the desired nutrients and began sucking.

At first it was a strange feeling to Midna. _Is this how Link's friends, the goats, feel, when the Fad__o milks them?_ But it felt so right and it made her feel so warm inside. "I love you. Even when you are with Link, I will still love you." She whispered.

* * *

Dawn of the second Day  
~ 48 hours remain ~

Yesterday had been a great day. Midna had bathed when Sephiria napped for three hours, but aside from that she had spent the whole day with her daughter. Sometimes Nuvra would join the party (it wasn't really a party, as it consisted of suckling, monologues with Sephiria, cuddling and napping, but it sure felt like party!). The three girls had their fun together.

But today Midna had to turn her hand to serious matters. She sat in Sephiria's nursery and in front of her lay an empty parchment, a feather and some black ink. Behind her Sephiria slept in her crib.

She had to write a letter to Link and send it together with Sephiria to Hyrule. This might be the last time she could tell him about her feelings, herself, her situation and of course about Sephiria.

However, she didn't know where to begin. There was so much on her mind, so much to write about but there were to words to express it. Midna had to turn her heart into this letter, a nearly impossible task, which had to be done. Grumbling to herself she dipped the feather into the ink and wrote the first words.

_Dear Link,_

_I know you are probably confused, but let me_

A cry halted her in her writing flow. Sephiria had awoken and was brawling. Quickly Midna stood up knocking the pot of ink over and approach the crib. "Shh, what is it, Sephiria. Mommy is here." She hushed and lifted Sephiria's into her arms. Instantly the cries softened, but Sephiria was still sobbing.

Then suddenly it dawned on Midna. The air was a little bit smelly. Okay, scratch that it was stinking abominably, how Midna hadn't noticed this was a mystery.

"Oh." Midna mumbled. Now she was in a predicament, she didn't really want to change Sephiria, but the sobbing broke her heart, so she gave in. "Okay. I'll do it."

First she lay Sephiria down onto the baby change unit in the corner of the room. Then she undid the cloth, which was the only thing that was separating her from the dump of doom. The smell only intensified, but Sephiria stopped crying noticing that someone was taking care of her. Quickly Midna got a cloth and cleaned Sephiria. When she was finished she burned the used diaper and the cloth with some magic and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The hardest part was over.

Then she grabbed expertly another cloth and folded it like she had learned and practiced with the help of the books and Nuvra. First put the baby onto the cloth, and then flip the bottom of the diaper over 180º. Pull up the cloth between the baby's legs and lastly knot the ends together. Finished!

"There you go, feeling better now?" Midna asked. Sephiria just yawned and Midna chuckled. "Hey I did all the work! And now you want to sleep?"

Sephiria just yawned again and blinked sleepily, looking at Midna. "Okay, okay. I'll tuck you in."

After bringing Sephiria to bed, Midna turned around and regarded the mess she made when standing up. Black ink was dipping onto the floor and had been splashed over the letter to Link.

Sighing Midna began cleaning the mess. "I'll need to start again. And I was just so creative!"

* * *

Dawn of the third day  
~ 24 hours remain ~

Today was the day, Midna had dreadfully waited for. Today was the day Sephiria would meet her daddy, Link would learn of her feelings worries and love for him. Today was the day Midna knew that her baby and love will be safe.

However, today was also the day Midna had to sacrifice seeing her daughter grow up; she had to sacrifice her sunshine. She would lose her last link to Link.

Shaking her head to get rid of the gloomy thoughts she watched her sunshine stir in her sleep. Nuvra had already begun to set up for the ritual, leaving Midna some time with Sephiria. She could just sit there and watch Sephiria sleep. With that she would be content. She wanted to burn her image into her memory. But she feared it would someday vanish. First it would be the slightly curled red hair, then the cute nose, at last the sparkling eyes.

Midna couldn't bear the thought of losing her daughter, so she got up and took some paper and some pens. Then she began to draw her sunshine until Sephiria woke up demanding for food.

Smiling Midna took her out of the lovely cradle and gave Sephiria what she wanted.

"You are quite spoiled, you know that, Sephiria?" Midna giggled, but Sephiria didn´t stop drinking. "Always getting what you want. I guess it's appropriate for a Princess and a daughter of mine!"

When Sephiria was finished she burped contently. Midna smiled sadly and carried Sephiria downstairs. It was nearly evening and it was time for goodbye.

"Nuvra, is everything set up?" Midna asked quietly cradling Sephiria gently.

Nuvra just nodded suppressing tears. "Are you sure?"

Midna hesitated. Of course she wanted her baby. She wanted to keep her sunshine, she wanted to be there for Sephiria throughout her life, but the goddesses hadn't blessed her with a happy life, but with a life far away from her loved ones. It was the curse of the Twili; she just hoped that her curse hadn't been passed on to her daughter. She hoped she had received the blessings of the goddesses like her father had.

Midna wiped some tears away that were pooling in her eyes. "Yeah. I have made my mind up. I want her to be safe with Link and let her experience the beautiful lands beyond this lake. I want her to feel the sun and not live in this cursed realm."

"Okay." Nuvra whispered. By now tears were streaming down on her and Midna's faces.

"But I don't want to." Midna whispered falling down to her knees and caressing Sephiria's face. "I love you. Do never forget that mommy will always love you, understand?"

Sephiria noticed that something was wrong and began wailing. "Shh. Don't cry." Midna whispered wiping her own tears away. "There is no reason for you to cry. Mommy will love you; you will live with daddy and have a happy life free of the responsibilities being a princess. Okay? So don't cry!"

Sephiria's crying only intensified and so did Midna's. Nuvra sobbed at the heartbreaking scene, but took responsibility and whispered. "Midna, we need to start."

Midna nodded and wrapped Sephiria into a grey cloth with cyan markings and tucked the letter she wrote to letter between the cloths. Then she gave Sephiria a quick peck on the forehead. "I love you."

Taking a huge breath she chanted: _"Göttinnen, erhört mein Flehen. __Der Weg ist zerstört, nun in Scherben.__  
Aber unsere Welten sind zwei Seiten einer Münze und müssen vereint sein um eine Münze zu sein.__  
__Daher stellt den Weg wieder her. "Then_ she added. „Please open the way for my daughter. "

The lake glowed with a strange light. Then it was as if something exploded inside. Wind picked up, water splashed everywhere and a bright light appeared. A voice seemingly out of nowhere could be heard. _"We comply __with__ your wishes__,__ Twilight Princess."_

Midna felt the bundle she held slipping away. Only reluctant she let go. "I love you."

When everything was over there was no trace of Sephiria and to Midna the world had become dull and dark again. "I love you, never forget that."

Soo there is it! I really wanted to update and I hope you will forgive the tearful good bye! I couldn´t help it. So yeah! Tell me what you think of it! I love your opinions! For me it was a little bit too quick in the end, but prolong the goodbye anymore so I thought. "Just do it and be done with it!"

Yeah! So now the real fun begins! Link welcome to the joys of being a single daddy of a little Midna twin or female Link twin or a mix of both. It won't be as easy as saving Hyrule from the wrath of a madman! MUHAHAHA!


	15. Meeting

Thank you guys so much for your support! I love you! Very much! Very, very much!

Disclaimer: I honestly do not own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

I know it's been long and this time I honestly don't have an excuse, so without futher ado let's begin!

Chapter 14

One moment, Lake Hylia was the way it usually was- refreshing air and water, a perfect picture drawn by Farore's and Naryu's hands. It was a dream of green and blue. Link was whiling away time by fishing, an activity he had become quite fond of, since it provided him somewhat with food and an occupation.

However, suddenly the entire lake was illuminated by a foreboding golden light. Golden light and a strange humming filled the air. In an instant the fishing pole lay forgotten in the shallow water, he couldn't believe it was finally time.

Fyer was looking around nervously, for a similar phenomena had taken place when Twilight had invaded Hyrule. The Zoras got out of the water uneasily, not forgetting the last time they were trapped in ice when they saw such golden light.

While the occupants of Lake Hylia were scared of the light, Link was overwhelmed with emotions. Finally, she had come for him! He wouldn't have to wait anymore. Nothing else mattered anymore, he only needed to go to her, see her, touch her and kiss her.

Enthusiastically, he jumped to his feet looking around for the location where the light was concentrated. His gaze wandered from Fyer's cannon house, to the Light Spirit's spring, the Sky Cannon he and Midna found in the Sancturary in Kakariko. His gaze stilled when he saw the tower where one had a great view of the whole lake and could even see the Gerudo Desert.

Nearly stumbling because of his long fishing session, (he had gotten pins and needles in his feet,) he ran up the hill. Once, he nearly fell into the water, but because of his rather superior reflexes he was able to grab the ledge in the last moment. Grumbling, he pulled himself up. Dusting his pants off, he ran again towards the golden light. Squinting, he could make out a figure already manifesting, although it seemed like a small figure. An imp? But her curse had been lifted!

Cold panic grabbed Link's heart. Had there been trouble in the Twilight Realm? Another Zant, who had cursed his Midna? He hoped nothing bad happened to her and she wasn't hurt. He loved Midna. and, being a man, he couldn't help feeling slightly scared, for he liked the princess Midna a little bit more than imp Midna. Perhaps it was because her real form was better looking or he had good memories of that form, but he wished Midna was in her real form. He liked her better that way and she liked herself better that way. And if she still was in her princess form there wouldn't have been trouble. He hoped.

Skidding, he stopped only a few feet from the glowing orb. The light was so intense that he was forced to shield his eyes. His eyes had begun to water, he didn't know when it had started. Quickly, he wiped them away with his sleeve, because he didn't want to be made fun of.

Then he heard a dull thud, as if something small had fallen down. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes hesitantly. The light was gone and whatever he had been expecting, it had been not this. Dumbstruck he stood there not knowing what to do else.

Imagine his surprise when instead of his beautiful princess or at least his imp, lay a bundle of cloth. It was unmistakeably from the Twilight Realm, since he had never been such a mixture of shimmering and black cloth in Hyrule before (save the time when he saw Midna in her princess form).

"Midna?" Link whispered, fearing the worst.

No response. Now Link was really panicking. The bundle wasn't moving. Had something happened so that Midna hadn't crossed over to Hyule? And only her clothes managed to get here? Was she trapped between the worlds or dead? Unbelieving, Link shook his head. No, no, no.

"This isn't funny. Nobody's laughing. Stop pulling my leg. Hey! Answer me, damn it!"

No response. He gulped when an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach, biting his lip to prevent tears from pouring out his eyes. He stepped cautiously towards the bundle.

Then he could see the bundle moving. She was alive! Link couldn't stop the tears anymore. Blinking the tears away, he could make out some read hair spouting from the bundle and quickened his pace.

"Midna. You shouldn't scare me like that. I thought you..." Link stopped his relieved splutter, because of brawl. A brawl of a baby, something he had to put up with countless times when Uli was out and he was dumped to look after Ruth. Not that he minded, he loved the small bundle of joy, but he could do without the wailing.

Alarmed he crouched near the bundle, she wouldn't have been shrunken, right? That would be a disaster, although he was glad she was okay, but seriously shrunken? Biting his lip nervously he pushed the black shimmering cloth back gently.

_At least it smells like Midna. _His mind registered, while he removed the cloth carefully.

Under the cloth was a mini-Midna with eyes shut and brawling like a baby. His Midna was back! Grinning he felt warmth spread through his whole being. Only to have reality to knock on the door of his brain. _She was a baby. The crying hurt his ears and head. On top of that she was a baby! No memories of him, no words of comfort for him._

"No way, Midna. Say something. Don't do this to me" Link groaned. He could already see the headache coming.

The brawling didn't stop. Link sighed and reprimanded himself. _Stop being an egoist, she need you now._

Taking the bundle into his arms he began to cradle mini-Midna. Humming Zelda's lullaby (because he didn't know any other lullabies) he studied her face more intently. It was not as pale as he remembered and the mouth was slightly different, too. This alarmed him again, however he let it slide thinking it was probably a side-effect of being shrunken.

Mini-Midna was calming down by now, sniffling a bit and opening her eyes to regard her new surroundings with big blue eyes.

Link stopped dead in his tracks. Those weren't Midna's eyes, her eyes were a beautiful red-orange. He stared into such blue orbs every morning, when he washed his face. Those weren't Midna's eyes, because they were his! Shocked of this revelation Link nearly let go of the bundle, however fortunately he composed himself in the last moment before his mind went into overdrive.

_This is not Midna._

_Midna hasn't shrunken and isn't here._

_Instead of Midna being here, I got a baby in my arms that looks like her, but on top of that like me._

_Since her departure about nine month have passed._

_Zelda's question about his and Midna's love life._

_This wasn´t happening. This was not really happening. It couldn't be that this wasn't just any baby, but his and Midna's._

_This beats all the odds. No way._

_We only did it once._

_What a thought: He. A father._

_No way. This wouldn't be happening. I must have fallen asleep while fishing._

Link pinched himself in the arm with his free hand. No, he was quite awake. The baby looked at him with _his _eyes and reached out for his face. It was so adorable, but it couldn't be his child, right. He knew nothing about taking care of a child. He wasn't ready to be a father, yet a single father with the mother in another world with no link to get there. This had to be a coincidence. And if it wasn't a coincidence, he was in a pretty prickle.

Then he saw paper sticking out of one of the folds. He froze. She wouldn't have... written a letter to him. With a trembling hand he reached for the letter which may contain the answer to all his questions. His name was written on the envelope. Link.

His mind was blank, he had to sit down, because he had begun to sway dangerously and he didn't want to drop the child in his arms. Even less if this was really his child.

After he had settled and had stared into space for quite a while. He opening the letter carefully not wanting to damage the precious piece of paper.

The letter was filled with scratched out words and in some places the ink was blurred because of what he presume were teardrops.

_Dear Link,_

_I cannot write you how sorry I am. I bitterly regret destroying the mirror. I made many mistakes in my life which surely have cost many lives, but this has been the biggest mistake in my life. I love you so much and it hurts me so much that you must feel even worse. I betrayed you, it had never been my intention, but when I realized it was too late. I love you and that will never change, you will be the only one for ever._

_You would not believe my surprise when I found out I was pregnant with your daughter (In case you haven´t put one and one together, yet. Yes, this is your daughter Sephiria.). It was the first time I had been happy since I have come back. Somehow I still had you with me. However this joy was short-lived. A child partly from the light world would not be accepted here. I feared the worst and conceived the plan to send her over to you. However, for this to happen I am going to have to remain here._

_To imagine not be there with you two breaks my heart, but it´s a little price to pay for our daughter´s safety. Keep her safe. I will always love you._

_Yours forever_

_Midna_

Shocked Link regarded the child in his arms. _Yes, this is your daughter Sephiria, _echoed in his head. This was his child? He was father? And Midna was the mother?

Disbelieving he read the letter a second time and a third time and a fourth time and he still couldn´t wrap his mind around the revelations he read in this letter. He was father and this was his child.

_At least she still loves me._

However Link couldn't repress the bitter disappointment that gnawed on his heart.

_She won´t come here. She stayed because of you. _He thought, looking at _his_ daughter, an emotion he was not familiar with went through him. Hate. _It´s your fault. It´s your fault I´m still alone in this world. She loved you..._

Shaking his head quickly to get rid of his dark thoughts he drew a deep breath. He felt awful thinking such thoughts. This was not him, it was his loneliness and bitterness getting the better of him.

"You are just an innocent baby, why would you be at fault? She loved you. You are her daughter. And even if I can´t comprehend it you are mine, too. Who am I too hate you?" he whispered. Getting up shakily Link held his daughter tightly, but at the same time gently. "I´ll protect you. It´s want Midna wants." He looked into her eyes which were so much like his and her hair which was so much like hers. "And I think it´s what I want, too. You are my daughter, Sephiria."

Gurgling Sephiria cocked her head adorably and squealed when Link grinned at her. "Perhaps I won't be as lonely as I thought I would be. Let´s go home."

With these words he stalked off to Fyer´s cannon, only to stop dead in his tracks. As he tucked the letter safely away his eyes had caught a little note on the backside.

_PS: If you are at Lake Hylia, which I presume you are, don´t get the stupid idea to shoot my baby and yourself up the mountains with Fyer´s cannon ! If you do, I swear, I´ll co... your deku nuts will make acquaintance with the Iron Boots!_

"Damn, Midna! And how should I get home then?"

* * *

After calling in some favors _(he asked Plumm, the myna-like bird, if Iza could sent her assistant down with a boat , so that he and Sephiria could travel up Zora River in the boat, but the Zora had protested that he was to heavy so that only Sephiria had the luxury of riding the boat, whereas he had to swim against the current (a feat he never thought he would accomplish, as he drowned nearly six times))_ Link was finally sitting on Epona´s back again and slowly they trotted towards Castle Town to not wake Sephiria who he was holding safely. The sun was setting and he did not want to ride at nighttime with a child and he was really exhausted because of his swim up Zora River, besides he thought it would be best to tell Zelda about this turn of events, for the simple reason she was curious and probably thought of something like this. And it would be unfair to leave her in the dark.

Furthermore he would like to sleep in the castle right now, because it was warm, comfortable and the food was splendid. And perhaps he would like to get some advice from Zelda.

When they arrived Link could feel the exhaustion pulling at his eyes lids. The last days had been too much for him and by now he could feel how utterly tired he was. If he had to put up with the guards again he would probably crash at Telma´s bar, since he had no nerve to deal with these guards again.

Scuffling he passed the fountain and dragged himself up the stairs. Rubbing his eyes he yawned. "Hey, I need to talk to Zelda."

"And you are?" a guard asked suspicious of him.

Link sighed about to answer, but was stopped by the second guard. "Shush, he is the Hero of Twilight."

Surprised Link regarded the second guard, recognizing him. "Ah, you are the guard from the other day. Please could we not argue this time, I´m not in the mood and tired."

"Of course. I´m sorry for my behavior when we met last time."

Link waved his hand dismissively. "It´s all okay and forgotten, if you bring me to Zelda now."

"Of course." The guard bowed and opened the door.

"Are you sure?" The other whispered, thinking Link couldn´t hear him. "He looks like a farm-boy."

Link just rolled his eyes, while the other whispered back. "Of course, I´m sure and if Princess Zelda hears you saying that it will be two weeks guard duty for you, too."

Then he faced Link and led the way. "Hero, this way, please."

Link stumbled after him. His vision swam a little as they made their way through some hallways. After what felt like eternity they stopped in front of a wooden door. The guard knocked hesitantly. "My Princess the hero is here to see you."

Link could hear her slapping a book shut. "Oh, yes. Please, let him in."

The guard opened the door and let Link inside. Link stumbled inside and let himself fall into the next chair, careful to not disturb the dark bundle with Sephiria inside in his arms. Then he heard the door shut and felt Zelda´s expectant eyes on him. "Good evening, Link. You look exhausted. Forgive me the forwardness, but where is she?" Zelda sounded confused and anxious.

"Not here..." He groaned, his eye lids were as heavy as King Bublin.

"But where..."

"Still there. Now, now, let me explain." Slowly he pried his eyes open again. "I got a letter. She couldn´t come here, only send Sephiria over."

"Sephiria? Is she your..." Zelda asked uneasily regarding the bundle in his arms.

Link nodded and mumbled, swaying slightly in his chair, nearly loosing grip on his daughter. "Our daughter. Could you...?" He asked holding the bundle with his daughter out for her to hold.

Reluctantly, she took the child into her arms, while he rested his head on the table.

"She´s adorable." Zelda smiled as she studied Sephiria. "She has Midna´s nose and hair and your eyes, you know."

Link just grumbled something under his breath and nearly fell asleep on the table. He couldn´t recall the last time he was this exhausted, was it after the fight with Ganondorf? Or after the mirror chamber? Grunting he rolled his forehead on the top of the cool table, fighting a loosing battle with his fatigue.

Zelda giggled at the sight. "Do you want something to drink, you look exhausted."

Link shook his head. "No. Had to swallow enough water today."

"What did you do exactly, normally you are not this exhausted."

"Swam up Zora River. Didn´t want the Iron Boots." He couldn't stay awake anymore and felt darkness pull at his conscience.

"You swam UP Zora River?" Zelda nearly shouted then looked alarmed at Sephiria, however she wasn´t the least disturbed by Zelda´s shout. Then Zelda continued in a hushed voice. "But that´s only possible for Zoras."

"Remind me to never to it again." His voice was slurred. "Can we talk tomorrow? I think I..." Link stopped mid-sentence and began snoring.

Zelda smiled fondly at him and shook her head. Then she got a blanket and put it over Link´s shoulders, took a seat in the comfortable arm chair and smiled down at the cute baby-girl in her arms.

"Take care of Link, you hear me, little one."

* * *

Yeah, finished! Again! Yes! Hope you liked it! Don´t forget to review! And much thanks to Zahvay the Fallen for her time to beta-read part of this chapter! I am too impatient to wait for a time when both of us have the time for FF (damn the time difference).


	16. Chapter 15 Home!

Everyone! Thank you so much for your support and everything! I am again very sorry that it took so long! But I just can't help it so put up with me, okay?

But now I proudly present you Chapter 15 Home!

Disclaimer: I honestly do not own Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

The chapter with the unbelievable number 15!

Something was different this morning. Link just couldn't out his finger on it. Something was very different from yesterday. Link noticed the slight breeze missing but shrugged it of because he was somehow very tired. Groaning he wanted to roll over however he didn't feel the soft grass tickling his sensitive nose but his face met hard-stoned floor. Caught off guard by the sudden coldness he jumped up and promptly bumped his head into a sturdy wooden table.

"Ouch" he hissed nursing his bruised head and damaged nose. He took in his surroundings and blinked. Twice. "Where has the lake gone to?"

His eyes wandered to the window. Far in the distance he could make out the blue, shimmering surface of Lake Hylia. "Huh? When did I get to Hyrule Castle." he mumbled to himself and blamed his rather painful awakening for his memory loss. Sighing he decided to sit down on the chair he spend the last night sleeping in and organize his thoughts.

He had been at Lake Hylia to wait for Midna's return from the Twilight Realm. So, why wasn't he at Lake Hylia waiting for Midna? He panicked. He hadn't missed her, right? He had overslept and she had dumped him because he wasn't there.

He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. No. That had not happened. He thought she had come but there was only the baby! Their daughter Sephiria! Speaking of her...

"Where is she?" Link shouted in panic searching frantically for his daughter.

He looked around seeing no Sephiria. At first he looked under the table and the chair. After this he opened several cupboards, drawers and chests. He even looked behind the curtains and the carpet.

He couldn't have lost her. Midna would kill him! She hadn't been with him for more than one day and he already lost her. Where did he loose her on the way here? Oh goddesses forbid! Hopefully he had not lost her in Zora River! He urged himself to calm down. He hated his brain in the mornings.

Link was definitely not a morning-person, especially not after swimming up Zora River and falling asleep on a table.

Taking a calming breath he paced back and forth in the little room trying to bring order to his thoughts which were a jumbled mess. His musing however were interrupted by the door opening.

Zelda stepped in looking disheveled and like a ordinary young women. She wore no elegant pink and white dress, but a simple white night grown. Her tiara wasn't resting on her golden bird-nest like hair and her jewelry was missing, too. In her arms she carried a gurgling bundle.

Instantly Link's eyes snapped to the bundle identifying it as his daughter.

"Sephiria! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" he exclaimed relieved and went towards Zelda and Sephiria.

"Good morning to you, too." Zelda greeted. Link grinned and sheepishly rubbed the backside of his neck. "Morning." He took Sephiria from her and regarded his daughter with delight.

"What happened here? Did you have another fight with Ganon?" asked Zelda suspiciously.

Link chuckled embarrassed. "Well, in my morning induced confusion I thought I had lost little Sephiria here. So I looked for her."

"I did know you weren't a morning-person, Link. However, this is ridiculous. Sephiria was hungry. So I got her some milk from the kitchen."

Seeing Link's dumbstruck facial expression, Zelda couldn't suppress a high, clear laugh.

Embarrassed he looked elsewhere. With Sephiria tucked safely in his arms now and being relatively awake by now, he could think straight now and remembered the events of yesterday.

He had been so exited to see Midna again and in the end he didn't see her. The disappointment after he had gotten his hopes up was so much greater than he had expected. Now he longed for Midna so much just as if she had left him again. However, the trip hadn't been in vain. He learned of Midna's true feelings, which made him feel much better. On top of that he met his daughter. If he had not been there who knows what would have happened to her? He admired Midna's trust in him. She had known he would be there waiting for him. He smiled at this. Just wait Midna. If there was a way for Sephiria here, I will find a way for you!

Lost in his thoughts he placed the table and chairs he knocked over in his panic on the carpet again. Zelda was still laughing at him when his stomach rumbled.

"You wouldn't have gotten some breakfast for me? I'm starving here after swimming up Zora River."

Zelda calmed herself and nodded. "I told the chef to prepare something and bring it here. Your food is on its way."

Link nodded in acknowledgment and took a seat.

"You still haven't told me the whole story, Link. What happened?" Zelda asked as she followed his example.

Link sighed and placed Sephiria on the table and told her what had happened. After the food had arrived he ate in silence while Zelda read the letter with a concentrated frown. He had been reluctant to give it to her but out of all the people in Hyrule Zelda was the most able person to help him. She only needed to know the facts and due to her immense wisdom she could find the solution.

As Link finished eating he cleared his throat. "Well, what do you think?"

After a pause she handed the letter back to him. "It is very likely that another way exists for Midna to come here. However it seems that this connection can only be upheld by Midna. Otherwise she would have come here, too. We only need to know why she is the only one able to uphold the connection, then we can try to look for another with similar attributes."

"So, you are saying we could open another portal from this side?"

Zelda nodded. "That is very likely. However I fear lest at the moment we also don't have the means to reproduce the procedure Midna did. It would be much easier, if Midna told us the details how she was able to open a portal. Right now I think it's best for you to go home and care for your daughter. I will look into some books here. However I won't have much time at the moment. There are still many problems because of the invasion."

"I can do nothing to help?"

Zelda shook her head. "Link. No offense, but the castle's library is huge and many books were damaged due to the explosion. I already hired conservators to repair the books but this will take some time and I doubt Midna would like her daughter growing up here while her father had only eyes for books. I will contact you when I got something. So be patient. You can trust me."

Link just nodded and got up. "Thank you so much Zelda. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"It's nothing. You saved my life and my kingdom I am forever in your debt."

Shyly he rubbed his neck. "Yeah well. It was no big deal. Er, I better get going now I want to be in Ordon before it gets dark."

Zelda smiled and stood up herself. "Of course. I still have some matters to attend to. Have a safe journey, Link."

After Zelda had left, Link cradled Sephiria and went outside.

* * *

The ride back to Ordon wasn't very eventful. The heat of the last weeks was diminishing and there wasn't as much dust due to some showers. Link was very thankful for that since he didn't want Sephiria to have a sunstroke. None the less he stopped at some trees to let themselves cool down a bit and gave Sephiria some milk which he had purchased in Castle Town before departing.

However due to the breaks and the rather slow pace he had ridden Epona they arrived later at the edge of Faron forest than Link had expected.

It was late midday and the sun shone mercilessly down on the trio. Link had wanted to arrive earlier to avoid as much midday sun as possible. Still, he was relieved since they had escaped the even hotter temperatures in the afternoon. Because of the shade provided by the trees the air had a pleasant chill to it and Link finally felt somewhat home again.

Even though he still missed the huge part that was Midna, the forest felt very much like home. He wasn't alone anymore he concluded.

Not that he had ever been alone in this forest with all his friends and those he regarded as family here, but now that his daughter was here with him he was now part of his own little family. Something he had dreamed of since he had been living alone in his tree house.

"Well, welcome home." Link smiled down at his daughter, who giggled in response. This made smile brightly like the sun. In such a good mood the forest seemed a lot brighter and full of life.

So he steered Epona towards the house of Coro who sat at his little bonfire with a bird nesting in his hair.

"Hey, Link. You are back!" he waved from his spot standing up to greet Link. "I've been wondering what you have been up to after you raced away as if you had an angered Ilia on your heels."

Link chuckled. "The Princess had something very important to tell me."

Coro's eyes nearly fell out of there sockets. "Dude, I'll never get used to you being the hero of Hyrule. I never saw the princess with my own eyes and here you go and have a talk with her highness herself. Err... So what was it about. If it isn't some super secret hero business, I would really like to know."

"Well... I wanted to surprise everyone in Ordon, but if you can keep a secret, I'll show you." Link demounted Epona and when Coro nodded he showed him Sephiria who peeked out of the blankets with curious blue eyes.

Coro blinked disbelievingly, then he looked to Link for a explanation and back to Sephiria again. "She resembles you. She wouldn't be your... daughter by any chance."

Link just smiled proudly at his response.

"Wait. You are kidding me, aren't you. You... a father?"

Link just nodded. "This is Sephiria, my daughter. "

Coro was silent for some time, processing this fact. "Well. This is a surprise. Remind me next time, Link, you are a man full of surprises. But a kid with royal blood. My, my Link. You are hero charming in person."

Link stopped dead in his tracks. How did Coro know of Midna or even that she was the Princess of the Twilight Realm.

Coro laughed out loud. "You and Princess Zelda! Now this is something. Don't worry your secret is safe with me!"

Dumbstruck Link blushed. "Stop, stop, you got it all wrong."

"Why? You get a call from the princess herself and then you come back with your daughter in your arms. Just nine months after you last saw her. I don't know about you, but that isn't something I call a coincidence."

"Well." Link cleared his throat. "Zelda and I are just friends. Sephiria's mother can't be here due to... political reasons, so she send Sephiria to Zelda. I..."

"Okay, okay. I understand. So this is your daughter, but not Zelda's. You don't want to talk about it. I understand. Every man deserved his secrets. But if you want to talk about it. I'm here."

Link nodded and mounted Epona again. "Thanks. I appreciate this. Oh, and I need some lantern oil. The family probably used it all up."

Coro nodded and filled a bottle with oil. "Yeah. But you will need to think of a good explanation. You know how the villagers can be."

"I'll think of something. Thanks. How much do I owe you?" Link sighed and took the bottle.

"Nothing. It's on the house for showing me this little beauty."

"Thanks." Link laughed and rode off.

* * *

"Whew. That was harder than expected." Link sighed as he rode on the bridge towards the Spirit's spring. "And I only introduced you to Coro. He was right telling the others will be quite troublesome."

By now he was at the spring and heard two giggling children.

"Did you see his face?" asked Beth's unmistakeably high voice.

"Yes. It was very funny." giggled Colin softly.

"Your idea with the bee's hive was brilliant." Beth praised with a smile.

"Wasn't it a little bit too harsh?" asked Colin while looking bashfully at the ground and rubbing his hands together.

Beth shook her head vehemently. "You know what that jerk said about Link! He deserved it!"

"I guess you're right..."

Link steered his trustworthy friend towards the two children. "Who said what about me?"

The two children whirled around to see him so that he could see their cheerful looking expressions on their faces. "Link! You are back!"

"Where have you been?" asked Colin exited.

"Did you save a beautiful maiden from a fearsome monster?" Beth asked dreamily.

"You didn't even say goodbye! In a blink of an eye you were gone and you didn't even stop when I called after you. We were worried!"

"Yeah! It must have been a really important mission!"

Link smiled brightly. "Stop, stop. I'll tell you."

When they saw Link's smile all worry was washed away from their faces, because Link didn't smile as much as he used to after he came back from his adventure.

"However." Link said, pausing a little when they saw their exited faces. "First I want to introduced someone to you."

"The beautiful maiden?" Beth asked hopefully, interrupting his speech.

"Why, yes! She is very beautiful indeed." Link chuckled and descended from Epona water splashing around his feet. After another pause he showed them Sephiria. "This is my daughter Sephiria."

At first they were speechless and looked at Link to see if he wasn't pulling their leg. However, when they only saw a father's proud face, Beth began squealing. "She is sooo cute!"

Colin smiled at the little girl. "Hello, I'm your big brother Colin."

"If you are the big brother, I will be the big sister! Hey, Sephiria, my name is Beth! I'll be your big sister!"

Link chuckled at their reactions.

"May I hold her?" Beth begged.

He nodded and put Sephiria carefully into her arms. Colin and Beth could now see Sephiria, who regarded the two of them with curiosity, even better and smiled widely. After cooing at Sephiria for a while, Beth gave Sephiria back to Link. "She is really adorable, Link! It's really easy to see she 's your daughter!"

"Link?" asked Colin after his gaze left Sephiria and met Link's eyes. "The mother... is she the girl you mentioned before you rode off?"

Link averted his eyes and looked at Sephiria. After a pause he bit his lip and answered truthfully. "Yeah. Her name is Midna."

"Where is she?" Beth asked.

Link sighed with a faraway look and dropped his eyes. "Far, far away."

"Oh..." mumbled Beth, noticing the glum mood. "Well, you won't imagine what we did to that jerk Ezio after he called you a coward!"

Colin continued when he noticed Beth's try to lighten the mood. "Yeah! When he went out, we shot the hive with the sling-shot you gave me the moment he was under it!"

Beth giggled at the memory. "The bees thought he was the culprit and stung him totally in the face."

"He ran away sceaming like a little girl." Colin laughed out loud bringing a little smile to Link's face.

"Yeah! But later his mom told us he has apipitiphobia!" Beth told Link. "And then Colin felt bad!"

"Apiphobia, the fear of bees. But he really deserved it!"

Link just nodded and noted the fact that his rival feared bees for later purposes.

Sephiria interrupted the retelling of the prank the kids had played on Ezio with a loud yawn and Link chuckled. "Looks like someone is tired. I'll go home now. Could you tell Uli to come see me at my house? I want to ask her for her help with Sephiria here."

The two friends nodded and stormed off eager to do the task. Link called after them. "Oh and keep this a secret from Ilia! I'm not really sure if I'm ready to face her wrath, yet."

"Okay!" Beth shouted and Colin added. "You don't need to worry, though! Ilia is away with Rusl and Ezio to buy some things in Kakariko! They won't be back until tomorrow!"

"Come on now, slowpoke!" Beth exclaimed from a distance. Colin raced after her. "Wait up!"

Link chuckled at the two of then and turned towards Epona and took her reins. "Let's go home."

* * *

That was it! Done! Don't forget to review!

Question corner!

**Jackskellington123 **If minda used something like the elegy of emptyness from majoras mask. Could she send her self over because there is now two of her ?  
Well. No. The song only works withing the area of Ikana and well the statue can't really do anything besides standing around, right? So no. Not really!

**Lady Fai **Will Sephiria be able to use magic or change forms like Link?  
She has Twili blood and so I guess she is able to use Twili magic. However, as long as there is nobody to teach her I don't see her lifting bridges and teleporting. Well and shapeshifting like Link is a problem. If I remember correctly Link was cursed and Sephiria not.

**monkeylove123 **Will we see Midna POV again?  
I haven't planned anything in the near future. For now I want to concentrate on Sephiria and Link. And to be honest... I have no clue what's happening in the Twili Realm...^

Yeah! See you next time!


	17. Chapter 16 it seems

**Sorry guys! No new chapter! But after a month I kind of noticed the paragraphs were off so I have just fixed this quickly! - 11.11.2013**

Whoho! I am back!

Again I am totally sorry for the super late update. However, this time I had to play Skyward Sword! I hope you forgive me for my obsession... Also I had to watch a very awesome anime (Beelzebub) to widen my horizon on the topic of cute babies!

* * *

Chapter ... Iforgotwhichnumberweareatand toolazytocheck!

It was yet another typical morning in Ordon village. The sun not yet at her highest peeked through the fluttering leaves there were some clouds in the horizon but they weren't threatening the perfect late summer day which was to come.

When Link awoke from his deep sleep, he was at first still sleepy and didn't register his surroundings or notice he was lying on the floor for some reason. He could have been in Gerudo desert and he wouldn't have been the wiser.

However after rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawning widely, he began to recognize his surroundings: the little window through which the early morning sun caressed his skin, the rather messy kitchen with the little stove and some chairs, his bed with his little Sephiria on it.

Which answered the question why he had slept on the floor: when he had come home yesterday he noticed there wasn't a spare bed where Sephiria could sleep on. There was only one bed they could share. Link however had been afraid he would push Sephiria off the bed due to his rather restless way of sleeping. So he had ended up sleeping on the floor.

He was home. Back in Ordon. Back in his treehouse which wasn't lonely anymore.  
Now this wasn't the home of one lone hero or the home of one lone hero and some undesired guests anymore. Now it was the home of a hero and his daughter!

Said daughter was still sleeping peacefully. Link, however, knew it wouldn't be like this forever. His little sunshine was bound to wake soon and would demand some food.  
So Link being the responsible parent he was, began to prepare some breakfast. In the cupboard he found some bread which may have been a little hard but was far from being bad nonetheless. he also found some cheese but after smelling it he thought it would be better to eat his bread without the cheese.

Then he went over to the little basket of baby necessaries he had gotten from Uli yesterday, whining silently due to the memory.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

After tending to Epona by making sure she had enough water and unsaddling her, Link had to figure out how he could climb the ladder. His first attempts were horrible. There were variations from balancing Sephiria on his head, which was way to risky, to pressing Sephiria tightly to his torso, which made her very uncomfortable leading to Sephiria crying. Link decided that Sephiria's sobs were the most terrifying sounds he has ever heard.

Which resulted in Link's new resolution: never make Sephiria cry again.

In the end the solution to his problem was quite simple. He cradled Sephiria with his dominant hand and climbed with his dominant left hand as support.

Unfortunately, the process of getting into his house had taken so much time that he hadn't had the time to prepare himself mentally for Uli who was his mother figure and who wasn't nervous of telling his mother he had a kid.

So you would understand the nervous sweat that had begun to form on Link's forehead when he heard Uli climbing up the ladder and knocking loudly on his door.

"Link? Are you there? Colin told me to come here and that you had a baby with you."

Carefully Link peeked out of his door fully prepared to face an enraged Uli, however he where he expected to find a fearful reincarnation of Ganondorf he only saw Uli with a concerned expression on her face.

"Is everything alright?" she asked seeing his anxious expression.

Flabbergasted Link just nodded and opened the door for Uli.

"My, my Link you look good. I'm relieved there is life again in your eyes."

Link just blinked and blushed at the unexpected compliment.

"So where is this child you found?" Uli asked looking around the room.

Link pointed towards the table. Uli's face lit up and she went over to the table. Still perplexed Link followed her.

"Oh how adorable. Link you are really a kind soul, taking care of a lost baby. But worry no more. I shall take care of her until you found the child's parents." Uli said and reached to take Sephiria.

Link froze at these words. Uli was going to take Sephiria away? In a flash his hand shot forward to stop Uli. "Err... There seems to be a misunderstanding."

Uli just looked at him quizzical waiting for him to elaborate.

"Well... You see..." Link chuckled uneasily and scratched his head sheepishly. "Sephiria here. Well, she isn't just anyone's daughter... and I didn't find her by coincidence... Well, because... Ah, how should I put this." Link paused and blushed slightly. "She is my daughter."

Then there was silence. Link had closed one eye and with the other he regarded Uli who was blinking uncomprehensively.

"Link, dear. I think I have just misheard what you just said... This child isn't your daughter, right?" Laughing uneasily she turned towards Sephiria who watched her curiously. "These eyes... It can't be..."  
Then she turned towards Link again and began rambling. "You better have a good explanation, young man! What were you thinking? A father... You are still so young and not even married! Or have you kept your marriage from us just as you have your daughter until now? Here in Ordon we don't keep secrets from each other since we are all family. Have you forgotten about this when you were out in Hyrule? Have you forgotten that we would be there for you when you needed us?"

Link just waved his hands around defensively. "Wait, Uli. I can explain. I only found out about Sephiria on my last trip. I haven't been keeping her a secret."

This seemed to appease Uli a little. "Okay, Link. However this still is quite the predicament you are in. You are a father now and you have to support your family. You are still so young. Are you ready to settle down now that you have a daughter and her mother to take care of. Speaking of the mother, where is she?"

Link froze, pain was evident in his eyes. "She..." he whispered hoarsely. Uli's eyes widened because of Link's pain. "...is not in this world anymore."

Then it was silent again.

"Oh, Link. I'm so sorry." Uli whispered thinking that the child's mother had died in child-birth and hugged Link.

Link was not realizing what he had implicated with "she is not in this world anymore", however he returned the hug anyway, he needed the comfort: his girlfriend was one world away and now he had to look after their child. Not that he minded Sephiria was his little darling, but he could not help but think his already complicated life had become more complicated once again. How much he missed the days that only consisted of getting up, looking after goats and sleeping again. Those simple days he couldn't return to anymore. He had experienced too much to sit idle for all his life.

"I miss her, Uli." Link whispered and Uli looked at him with compassion and was surprised when she saw a glimmer of hope in Link's eyes. "But. She got Sephiria here. Zelda told me there had to be a link between our worlds still. She is looking into this right now, I feel there is still hope for me and Sephiria to see Midna!"

"Link? Isn't this Midna already dead?" Uli asked uneasily not wanting to crush Link's hope.

"Who told you that?" Link asked frowning.

"Why, you of course. You said she wasn't in this world anymore!"

Link blinked. "Ah. Well I didn't mean it that way. You see Midna is the Princess of another world. I helped her to regain her throne and well we kind of fell in love. Then just before she went back and cut the connection to Hyrule for our safety... I got her pregnant."

Uli was silent and sat down on a nearby chair coming to terms that her little Link impregnated the princess of another world which was inaccessible and that the product of their love was laying on the table, sleeping. "Why is your daughter here then?"

"Her people had bad history with Hyrulains and won't accept half a Hyrulian as their throne heir. Midna was afraid they would kill Sephiria. So she somehow send her here."

Uli was silent again and Link shifted uneasily from foot to foot. After some time Sephiria began to stir and open her eyes. This caught Uli's attention again. "She has your eyes."

Link nodded proudly. His grin, however slipped, when he heard Sephiria crying. "What is it? Is something wrong?" Link asked in panic and picked her up. "Shhh. Everything is okay." Unfortunately this didn't calm her down, Sephiria's crying only got louder.  
Link unable to cope with this situation turned to Uli helplessly. "Uli! Do something!"

Uli giggled at this sight after some time her giggles became a lighthearted laughter.

"This isn't the time be laugh!" Link shouted worried. "Perhaps she became ill on the trip. Or she had a terrible nightmare. She must miss Midna!"

"Oh, Link. Calm down." Uli told him after her laughter had subsided. "When a baby cries there are only some things that could be wrong. One: you need to change the diaper. Two: it wants attention. And three: it's hungry. Sephiria clearly doesn't want attention and she doesn't stink. So consequently she must be hungry."

Uli smiled and put her basket on the table. "Here is a bottle and some milk. First you need to heat the milk and then you need to wait for it to cool down to body temperature. I'll show you."

Then Uli began to prepare Sephiria's milk while Link watched her and tried to calm Sephiria somewhat.

Finally she finished and gave Link the bottle and instructed him how to feed Sephiria. Link happily noted that Sephiria calmed down as he fed her.

When Sephiria was satisfied Uli requested to hold her "first grandchild", Link nodded and gave Sephiria to Uli. Sephiria regarded her uncertainly at first, but when she saw Uli's happy smile, she reached out and traced Uli mouth who smiled even wider.

Link also smiled at this moment between his mother—figure and daughter.

Then he looked through the contents of the basket Uli had brought to him. He found some more milk,a spare bottle, some wide cloth he presumed were used as diapers and a little blanket.

"She'll need some clothes, too. Autumn is approaching. I'll go look for some clothes which don't fit Ruth anymore."

Link nodded and put everything on a shelf, then he sat down next to Uli who gave him some pointers. They talked until Sephiria fell asleep again. They quietly said good-bye, Uli left and Link was challenged to find a good place to sleep for Sephiria and him.

* * *

Monster Flashback End

* * *

Humming softly to himself he heated the milk a little just like Uli had shown him and filled a bottle with it. Holding the bottle to his face he waited until the milk had the right temperature and put the bottle on the table. Then climbed the ladders to the sleeping form of Sephiria who had begun to stir.

Yawning adorably Sephiria opened her eyes. Then she blinked several times and once she saw Link's familiar figure smiling happily, she coed and made a grabbing motion towards his face. "Daah."

"Good morning to you, too. Did you have a pleasant night, my princess?" Link picked Sephiria up and rocked her gently back and forth.

Sephiria seemed to enjoy this treatment very much since she giggled which made Link chuckle, too.

"Let's go downstairs for breakfast. I bet you are hungry." Carefully Link shifted Sephiria on his right arm and climbed down the ladders slowly. Meanwhile Sephiria took in her surroundings with big eyes.

Breakfast was rather uneventful. Link somehow managed to feed Sephiria while he ate his bread.

When they had finished Link washed the dishes while telling Sephiria of today's plans.  
"Today will be a big day, Sephiria." Link said seriously and Sephiria answered with a cute. "Aaah?"

Link nodded. "Yes, yes. Today you will meet your grandpa and see grandma and your big brother again. You can also make friends with Ruth. She is a little older than you, but she is a very sweet girl."

With that said Link put the dishes away and took Sephiria into his arms, who gurgled happily. "Then let's go."

* * *

It was another beautiful late summer day. Although there was a chilly breeze now and then, it was still pleasantly warm as Link made his way to the house of Rusl, Uli, Colin and little Ruth.

On the other side of the little stream, he saw Chiara, the mother of Ezio, sitting in front of her house. She enjoyed the warmth of the sun, cradled Ricardo and hummed a song. When she saw Link she waved.

"Hello, Link. You are back. How was your trip?"

"Very eventful. How are you and the child?" Link asked politely.

She smiled. "Very well. He isn't crying as much as before when I'm not with him." He paused a little as if remembering something. "Oh yes. Ezio wanted to talk to you. But he is out fishing with his dad right now. I'll tell him you are back in Ordon."

He just nodded and knocked on Rusl's door. Thinking about Ezio made him scowl. "What does the snobby—hunting—club—kid want now?" Link grumbled to himself. Just leave it to Ezio to sour Link's mood.

When the door opened, Link forced his bad mood away.

Colin had opened the door yawning, but when he saw it was Link, he was widely awake. "It's Link!" he shouted.

Link heard somebody coughing from the inside. "Why didn't anyone tell me he was back?" asked Rusl who came into sight behind Rusl. "Come in."

Link did so with a smile. "Good morning." He greeted everyone and took in his surroundings. Uli was busy in the kitchen putting away used dishes. Ruth was lying on a blanket playing with a wooden goat. She smiled and coed in delight when she saw Link. "Wliing."

"Hello, Ruth. I brought you a playmate." Link smiled.

"Aw, you brought Sephiria!" Colin ran up to Link and stood on tiptoes to greet Sephiria.  
Uli also came over to greet the newest addition to the family. "Link has fed you properly, right?"

"Aaa." Sephiria made happy noises due to all the attention she was receiving.

Rusl, however, didn't have a clue what was going on and stood next to the door with an open mouth. While everyone was fussing over Sephiria, he tried to put the clues together in his head: Link... Away... Baby...

This could only mean one thing! While Link was away he had gotten a baby!

"Dad! Come here and meet Sephiria!" Colin shouted releasing his father from of his stupor.

Blinking quickly he focused on the task on hand. Approaching his wife, son, godson and the baby, he asked. "Is it yours?"

Link nodded proudly and motioned to him to carry Sephiria. Not very sure of the situation Rusl took Sephiria in his arms carefully. Said girl regarded the new person with her big, round, blue eyes. Rusl looked at Link and noted. "She has your eyes."

Link smiled happily and added. "Yeah, but I she has her nose."

Rusl just nodded silently, still thinking about the new member of the family. "I... I don't really know what to say." He whispered and looked at Link's face which has changed drastically since he last saw it. He has been worried for quite some time, when he saw how much Link's quest to save Hyule had changed him. Link had become much more secluded and didn't smile as often as he used to. However now he saw Link was nearly his old self again. He came visiting, he smiled again and the air around him seemed slightly lighter.

Rusl smiled at this development. "I don't know what to say but I am glad we have gotten our beloved Link back."

Link was a little puzzled at this, but smiled nonetheless. Sephiria picked up the good mood and uttered a gleeful sound "Dah!"

Rusl now turned his attention to the girl in his arms. "Of course, I'm glad to have you here as well."

"Abuu." Sephiria responded and continued to blabber more unrecognizable words. Soon Ruth joined the baby talk with her own more understandable words. "Hu dad? Rud swee twou."

Rusl smiled at his own daughter. "This is Sephiria, Ruth. She is Link's baby."

"Rud playw 'ria?"

"Yes Ruth you can play with Sephiria. That is okay, right Link." Rusl asked.

Link nodded. "Of course." Then he turned to Ruth. "But be careful Ruth Sephiria is still very little."

"I will look after them. I don't want to listen to adult—stuff" Colin volunteered and took Sephiria from Rusl's arms and sat down next to Ruth.

Link regarded his daughter closely looking for any evidence that she was uneasy, but seeing only curiosity and happiness in Sephiria's eyes, he concluded she would be fine. "Okay" He said and went after Uli and Rusl towards the kitchen—table and sat down.

* * *

Ilia had a bad day, to be exact a bad week. To begin with she had to go on a trip with her father to Kakariko (which wasn't that bad, because she could see all the people again who housed the children during the Twilight invasion), however there she met a girl she couldn't possibly get along with.

She was brash, violent, had an annoying smile and on top of that she had no sense of direction so that Ilia had to find her in the end. And she never gave a word of thanks in return, just a obnoxious laugh. This girl, Rian, was so nerve—wrecking, that she was growling under her breath every time when she came into sight. And Rian wouldn't take a hint. No! She had taken a linking to Ilia and talked to her the whole time!

As the time of their departure drew nearer, Ilia was very delighted to leave the super annoying girl behind, but it was just her luck that Ordon was Rian's destination, too. Due to her non—existant sense of direction she had suggested to travel together.

Of course, her helpful father had agreed thinking it would benefit the blossoming friendship between her and Ilia. When her beloved father had said that, Ilia was ready to become a murderer.

However Ilia had always been a peaceful soul and accepted her destiny to be annoyed to death by Rian. So in the end no one was murdered by Ilia.

The journey back to Ordon was nerve—wrecking as Ilia expected. She had lost count of all the times Rian had asked her something totally pointless. On top of that Rian had wandered off countless times and had gotten lost, so that Ilia had to look for her again and again and again. It drove Ilia to insanity!

Considering this the joy Ilia felt as the bridge to Ordon came into view, was quite understandable.

Usually he creaking sounds of the ropes and the wood of the not very safe-looking bridge swaying over an endless black abyss made her nervous, but today she welcomed these sounds.

At first Ilia had thought nothing could top the joy and relief she felt upon stepping on Ordonian ground again and the prospect of getting rid of annoying Rian but as she saw Epona grazing next to Link's tree house her good mood knew no limits. It has been a long time since she had been this happy.

"Epona! I'm so happy to see you!" Ilia greeted the horse with a bright smile. "Is Link here, too?" Epona neighed in response when she saw her good friend Ilia. Skipping happily to the horse Ilia was looking forward to their reunion.

However this joy was short-lived. Upon closer inspection the trained eye of Ilia detected some shortcomings in the way Epona had been taken care of. Epona hadn't been washed properly after what seemed like a long ride and even worse one horseshoe was slightly off.

The previous felt joy melted into blind rage. Probably Link was still dancing with unicorns in wonderland and drooling over his pillow instead of taking care of his horse. _That sleepy head is going to wish he had never been born in the first place when I'm through with him!_ Ilia thought.

"Link! Get your horse-abusing-butt down here! PRONTO!" Ilia screeched.

Now dear reader I would like to present you with a simple equation:

Enraged and nearly insane Ilia + a not-properly-taken-care-of Epona + Link who has vanished without a trace equals?

* * *

Well, find out next time! I hope you enjoyed it!

And do not expect another chapter soon. Assassin's Creed 3 is going to be released soon and the prospect of it makes me already drool!

But don't forget to review it makes the next chapter come faster!


	18. Chapter 17 I hate numbers!

Happy New Year!

I'm back with my New Year's resolution to update more often! Feel honered! Well I know I haven't updated since Octobre but I hope I'm forgiven!

**Thanks for the reviews I enjoyed reading every single one of them and they are the reason why you can already read the next chapter because I'm such a lazy person but your review (as always motivated me enough!). THANK YOU!**

And because it has been so long I even added a recap! Enjoy!

* * *

What has happened so far:

Well, Link comes home with his daughter Sephiria and faces the first challenges of being a father. Thank Farore that Uli is there to help, so that there is at least someone to teach Link how to raise a child. However dark clouds are looming on the horizon as an enraged Ilia steps on Ordonian ground again only to find Epona who is not properly taken care of...

* * *

Chapter 16 (I think, I'm not good with numbers...)

* * *

Uli's house with Link

Sitting with Rusl and Uli in the kitchen and hearing delighted giggles coming from the living-room, Link let himself relax and answer Rusl's questions as best as he could. It had become a lot easier to talk about Midna and not to go back into his state of depression. He felt lighter now, that he had opened up and wondered why he hadn't done so earlier. Link didn't feel secluded and misunderstood anymore, but felt truly loved.

Laughing about Rusl's jokes wasn't an act anymore and smiling at Uli's caring nature felt genuine again. Link was happy to be home again... until his enhanced hearing picked up an angry whisper that the winds had carried to Rusl's house. It sounded a little like a very angry Ilia shouting something about horse abuse.

Link looked around uneasily. "Did you hear that?"

Uli and Rusl shook their heads. "Must have been my imagination." Link trailed off, observing the door with a troubled glance. Ilia was bound to come back soon and he still had to think about how to break the news to her.

Link was no fool as he was aware that he and Ilia had been more than good friends at some point before his journey. However these feeling had never been expressed and during his journey he fell in love with Midna, so that he saw Ilia as his best friend. But she hadn't fallen in love with someone else and he feared she still liked him. She hadn't pushed him, probably thinking he was still coping with the pain he experienced on his journey and had decided that he would need a friend more than a lover. She had been so considerate and hoped that he would show his feelings for her when he was ready. It must have been painful seeing him all the time, while he didn't see her the way she would have liked. But she had kept silent and lived with false hope, that they would someday begin a relationship.

He hated to crush that fantasy and had been too selfish to risk Ilia's undying support when he had needed it the most. Now he regretted not being honest with her. He had been such a fool.

Rusl pulled him out of his thoughts. "Link, are you alright? You've spaced out there for five minutes. Something on your mind?" He asked concerned, Uli had placed a cup of pumpkin-juice in front of him, which he took in his hands with a grateful nod.

Link shrugged. "Just thinking about what to tell Ilia, when she comes back. I don't want to hurt her."

Rusl nodded, completely understanding Link's predicament. He had also noticed the subtile glances Ilia shot Link now and then when she thought he wasn't looking. "I don't want to be in your skin when that happens."

Link sighed and drank some pumpkin-juice. A loud pounding on the door made him freeze up.

"Link if you are in there, you better have a good explanation!" Ilia shouted while knocking on the door quite forcefully. Link spit his drink out with wide eyes. _Why was she this angry? Had anyone told her about Sephiria?_ Link shook his head._ No there wouldn't be a single person to face Ilia's wrath voluntarily. So it had to be something else..._ The whisper he heard minutes ago came to his mind... Horse abuse. Link facepalmed. He had forgotten to wash Epona after the ride from Castle Town!

"Uli, Rusl, please open the door!"

Link stood up abruptly. "Tell her I'm not here." Then he looked around for a hiding-spot. "Don't let her in!" He whispered forcefully to Rusl.

"The door is open, Ilia dear!" Replied Uli, who was with Colin in the living-room and had not heard Link's statement.

Now, Link had battled countless monsters without batting an eyelid. For the sake of Farore! He had the triforce of courage! Who would have thought that the clicking of a door would make him sweat bullets?

"Is Link here?" Ilia asked sweetly.

Cursing under his breath he now looked for an escape, but the windows were closed and he didn't have time to open one.

"Oh yes. He is in the kitchen with Rusl." Uli responded cheerfully.

"Thank you."

In a shot Link found himself behind a potted tree, hoping Ilia wouldn't see him. Why had he changed his outfit again? His green tunic would have concealed him better behind his new green best friend.

The door opened in slow-motion and Ilia came into the room with a mad smile on her face. Her gaze went through the kitchen and set upon the shaking plant in the corner of the room. Aggressively, she stomped towards it. Behind her Rusl sneaked out of the kitchen to join his wife, closing the door behind him and condemning Link to his fate.

"What are you doing behind this plant, LINK?" Ilia asked with her eye twitching uncontrollably.

Link stood up and scratched the back of his head uneasily. "Ah. Hehe. Well. You see. Ehhh... You know I-I was looking for this thing I lost and... and well I thought it might have been here?"

Ilia frowned. "What's this thing you were looking for?"

Link looked around the room helplessly. "The thing I was looking for... Well. Of course it was..." He looked at the sink thinking of a good excuse when he saw the bar of soap Uli used before preparing a meal. "Soap! I lost mine so I couldn't go to wash myself with Epona. I thought Uli would have some, but I couldn't find it. So I looked here."

Link was mentally congratulating himself for his rather clever excuse. Ilia seemed to calm down a little bit after hearing this.

"At least you know what is wrong. Link, I had a very annoying week so you better tell me why you haven't seen to Epona's horse-shoe, yet! "

"Well. We only returned yesterday and... I... had something more... important on my mind." Link finished meekly, knowing Ilia wouldn't like hearing this.

"And what was so much more important than the well-being of your most trusted companion on your journey?"

Link was about to tell her that Epona may have earned her title as trusted companion, but it was Midna who held the title of most trusted companion but he knew that this would only enrage her even further.

So he kept silent.

Shifting uneasily from one foot to another he said "Perhaps we should sit down."

"No. I am quite sure that I can handle whatever you want to tell me." She told him impatiently.

Link bit his lip nervously. "I might have learned that I have become a father and I wasn't sure how to take care of my daughter. So, well I totally forgot about Epona."

"You what?" Ilia exclaimed confused.

"I didn't know how to deal with it and well I'm still new to this and well... this, it's just so much to take in and I was going to take proper care of Epona. I swear! It just hasn't come to my mind, yet." Link stated uneasily observing Ilia carefully.

"You are a father?" She asked incredulously not believing her ears.

Link paused and after an uncomfortable silence he answered with a very sorrowful voice. "Yes. Ilia, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you about her, but..."

"Since when?" Ilia interrupted while biting her lips so that she wouldn't cry.

"What?" Link asked not understanding what she wanted to know. "I only learned about my daughter on my trip to Castle Town. It's also new to me. You have to understand..."

"Not that!" Ilia shouted tears threatening to fall at any moment now. "Since when have you had this other woman?"

Again Link was silent. He knew he had messed things up. He should have told her from the beginning. "I met her just after you were kidnapped."

Tears were now flowing down her cheeks freely, he could see she felt betrayed and knew how she felt, for he also felt betrayed when Midna shattered the mirror.

He reached out for Ilia, but she turned around and bolted for the door.

"Ilia, wait! Just let me explain!" He called desperately running after her.

"Leave me alone, you monster!" Ilia cried and ran outside slamming the door shut.

_You monster! _It echoed in Link's mind. That hurt. The world began spinning around him. He had been called a monster by many people guards, the people of Castle Town and even the people of his own home village but that was when he was in his wolf form. However, actually being called a monster by his best friend while being in human form left him standing frozen and wide-eyed. _She really hates me now... I guess I really deserve this. I really am a monster._

Exhausted Link fell down on his knees. He felt that he was about to cry, but blinked the tears away. He lost the love of his life and now he lost his best friend, too. And it was his fault, too. From the corner of his eye he could see Sephiria looking around confused and scared. Slowly he got up and swayed over to his daughter.

"At least I still have you. But who would want a monster for a father? You will probably leave me too, because I'm such a bad father. Every woman I hold dear seems to leave me at some point." A monster would always feel isolated and alone. When he was a wolf he was on his own and now this status seemed to manifest when he was human. He was becoming a lonely wolf in human skin. "I am alone."

"Link! What is wrong with you?" Colin shouted.

Confused he blinked at his presence. He had forgotten that he wasn't the only one in this room and blushed because Colin, Rusl and Uli had heard his monologue. "This isn't you, Link! I don't want to see you isolate yourself again." Colin cried. "Please don't do this to us again!"

"Yeah and don't worry I'm sure you will be a great father." Rusl encouraged Link. "I also wasn't ready when Colin was born. It's normal that you don't feel ready."

Uli smiled the smile only a mother could smile and told him. "Ilia will calm down. Just talk to her and I'm sure everything will be okay. You should go look for her and then confront her with your feelings I'm sure she will forgive you."

Link nodded, wiped the tears he hadn't even felt falling, away and stepped towards the door but stopped abruptly.

"What is it?" Rusl asked.

"Could you look after Sephiria while I'm gone and... thank you."

Uli just nodded and took Sephiria from his arms. "Now go after her."

Link nodded confidently and ran off.

* * *

Link didn't have to look long. After checking at Mayor Bo's and other places she could be, he concluded that Ilia wasn't in the village itself anymore. When he didn't see Epona standing in front of his house he knew where she would be and a strange sense of deja-vu overcame him for this was how his quest to save Hyrule had begun. He had an argument with Ilia, she went off to the Spirit's Spring with Epona and he followed her there to apologize.

Sighing he made his way to the spring only to find the entrance locked. _Hopefully there won't be any kidnapping today. _Link thought and searched for the narrow tunnel that lead to the spring thinking the usual entrance was probably locked.

Crawling through the narrow space was something he did not enjoy, considering he had grown a little since he last crawled through here. Fortunately, he hadn't washed his clothes yet so it didn't matter that he got dirty and dusty. Due to some raised dust he had to sneeze lightly and this slight tremor let to some sand falling down thus making the tunnel even narrower and even harder to move forward. He cursed himself for letting Ilia run away which resulted in his current predicament. To his relieve the exit wasn't far and to reach it quickly he doubled his efforts. Finally, he was free of the narrow space and had a perfect view of the spring.

The water was as pure as ever and rippled merrily. Fairies danced in the air and when was listening closely he could make out the chiming gentle giggles. However, the tranquil atmosphere was disturbed by Ilia and Link could have sworn there were dark clouds looming in the ever clear sky above the serene spring.

Epona neighed cheerfully when she caught sight of Link whereby Link's presence was announced to Ilia who turned around surprised.

"Ilia... I'm sorry." The words tumbled out of his mouth before he even thought about them.

Instantly, her depressed demeanour turned into rage and only moments later she kneeled in the water with tears in her eyes, again.

Water splashed around Link's feet and then he was next to her in the water hugging her comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Ilia. I'm so sorry." He whispered again and again while tears ran over face, too.

Ilia clenched his shirt and wailed. "But I loved you! I still love you, Link! Why don't you love me back! I was always there for you. I was always at your side. There isn't another man for me. I think only of you! So why, Link, why?"

"I'm sorry, Ilia." Link sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"Is that all you have to say?" Ilia asked biting her lip. "Please, go away. I need to be alone now."

Link clenched his hands and looked straight into her eyes.

"No." He sighed. "I'm here to explain. It's just so hard to put it into words."

"Right. You were never good with words." llia grumbled and looked away to stroke Epona's leg. "Out with it or leave!"

Sighing he stood and pulled Ilia with him to the shore. "We will catch a cold if stay in the water."

"Idiot. This water has healing properties." Ilia grumbled but followed Link nonetheless.

"Still, it is cold." Link countered with a smile, glad to have found a lighter topic to talk about.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ilia wiping away her tears and a smile tugging on her lips. "Don't even dare to think I have forgiven you. I'm still mad as hell." She grumbled and sat down on the sandy shore. "Now, spill the beans!"

"Okay. Now, where to begin?" Link asked himself uneasily.

Ilia rolled her eyes. "Well, Mr. Hero, how about the beginning?"

Link nodded. "Okay. When you and the kids were kidnapped, I..."

"That soon? You fell in love with another girl just after I was away?" Ilia asked enraged hitting his shoulder.

"No! I just met her then!" Link held up his hands in defense.

"Grrr. So it is true! The one second I take my eyes off you, you are snatched away by another girl. Who is she by the way?" Ilia asked while stabbing the ground with her finger with clenched teeth. Her eyes had become two blazing fire-balls.

Nervously rubbing his hands together Link answered softly. "Midna." He whispered biting his lip. "Her name is Midna."

Ilia continued stabbing the ground waiting so that Link could continue. However, when she noticed his faraway look and stabbed his shoulder.

"Ouch" Link cried out rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"

"You'd better be glad I didn't stab you in your eyes." Ilia grumbled. "Midna... To be honest... I never heard of her."

"That's because she hid in my shadow the whole time and the only other person who met her is Princess Zelda." Link explained.

Ilia scrutinized Link. "And you are sure you are not making this up?"

"No! I would never lie to you!"

Ilia just raised an eyebrow.

"It's the truth! I never lied! I just have not told you about everything."

"Why? Why didn't you tell me about it?" Ilia whispered hurt and looked away hugging her knees.

Link sighed and explained with a broken voice. "I couldn't tell you. I was so afraid I would lose you, too." Ilia watched him as he teared some grass blades out of the ground. "I know it was selfish and there is no excuse but I was so lonely. I felt I didn't belong here anymore. Everyone was able to live normally after the invasion but I couldn't go back to what it used to be. I'm not the same person I was before. However, you were always there and I just couldn't risk to lose you. I didn't want you to hate me. I would have gone insane."

Ilia was silent. "You never let us try to understand you." She whispered.

"And how could any of you possibly understand. You weren't there."

Ilia sighed. "Yeah. I know. I just want to help you."

"You've already done so much for me Ilia." Link took Ilia's hand. "Ilia, you are so important to be but I don't like you in a romantic way. You are family, my sister."

Then Ilia bit her lip and there was a long pause.

"You know." Ilia said blinking her tears away. "I always thought we would get married one day. Everyone was of that opinion and who else would I marry if not you? You were the only other kid in the village, we were always together. But..." Ilia trailed off and in the end she smiled at Link's surprised face. "...now I think you are right. You are more like a brother to me."

After her little speech she laughed out loud. "Face it Link, you are not lover material. You never take care of Epona!"

"That's not true! Contrary to you, I have a lover!"

Ilia just nodded. "Yeah, yeah. And where is your Midna? Still hiding in your shadow?" Ilia joked smiling brightly.

However, Link grew depressed since he still missed his little imp or rather his breathtaking princess. "I wish she still would be hiding in there."

Ilia became concerned about Link when she heard Link's quivering voice. "Link what happened?"

Link began rubbing his temples. "She... she is the Princess of the Twilight Realm." Ilia gasped at this revelation but Link continued telling her about Midna. "Zant, a servant of Ganondorf, overthrew Midna and cursed her. Then he invaded Hyrule."

Link squinted his eyes as he recalled his memories. "To cut a long story short, Midna and I fought to save Twilight and Hyrule. At some point we fell in love, but I only realized it after I had thought she died while trying to bring Ganondorf down. You wouldn't believe how happy I was when I saw she had survived."

Link smiled at that memory wiping the tear away which was threatening to fall. Ilia was smiling, too. "So she was always with you. That's nice."

Link nodded smiling. "I would be five feet under if she hadn't been there with me. Unfortunately, my luck wouldn't last. She had to go back to her world and sacrificed our happiness to prevent another invasion by destroying the only known connection between our worlds." Link sighed. "We didn't even know she was pregnant at that time."

"That's so sad." Ilia whispered and hugged Link. After a while she stood and helped Link up. "Now, I would like to meet my niece." She said smiling.

Link just smiled and nodded.

* * *

Argh! I fail at all this drama stuff! I hope you didn't mind much.

**Question Corner!**

Well, there weren't any questions but I have one for Guest. I didn't really understand your theory, could you explain it again, please? I'm really curious how you think Link and Midna could reunite.

On top of that I am quite curious what all of you think! Will Link and Midna reunite? How could that possibly happen? And... why isn't it Game Over for Link after facing Ilia?

To be honest I don't really understand how he survived! It's a mystery!

OH! And don't forget to review!


	19. Chapter 18

I'm ashamed! I always take so long and you guys always have to wait because of me! At least I update, right? Never lose hope, guys, because at some point in the future there will be an update, I promise! And as you can see again I stand by my word, if you know what I mean.

However, this chapter would have never been written if it weren't for you guys reading, reviewing and favouriting and loving this fic as much as I do! On top of that I fixed the ' in all the previous chapters. I am really not on got terms with my keyboard so I used the ´ instaed of a '. That's fixed now!

Thank you again! But no need to get sentimental, go and read on I will be waiting for your reviews!

* * *

Chapter 18

What happened so far:

Ilia found out about Sephiria and was devastated that Link was already taken. She ran off and Link went after her to comfort her. They came to terms and Ilia is now ready to meet her niece.

* * *

The laughter of Ilia and Link accompanied their way back to Rusl's house. The two of them could finally talk to one another again without guilt, false hopes and distance. They were back to their teasing selves considering Ilia had stolen one of Link's many pouches and was running towards the pumpkin field to get some distance between Link and herself to see what was inside.

Link, surprised by her blunt move, was just standing on his spot until he realized Ilia was about to open his pouch full with his most favourite treat, pumpking-sweet-cookies made by Uli herself.

"llia! Give it back!" Link shouted in dismay as he saw Ilia had already opened the knot.

Her eyes lit up like stars seeing the little treasure Link had hidden from her. "Are those... pumpkin-sweet-cookies? Yummy, these are my favourites!"

And just like that Link was about to lose his secret stash of cookies. Naturally, Link tackled Ilia when she was about to take her first bite of the pastries blessed by the three goddesses themselves. The oh so surprising consequence of that was -who would have thought- a free of charge flight for the whole bag of cookies into the pond.

Shocked, Link retrieved his beloved cookies and stared at the soggy cookie mess. "Oh no! Poor cookies! What has she done to you?"

Ilia, a vengeful glint in her eye, held up the remaining cookie and declared. "At least this one was spared from the apocalypse. It is my honor to give this last survivor a fitting trip to his friend and family. Farewell." And with these words she bit into the cookie.

"You are so heartless, Ilia!" Link wailed. "At least give me a crumb!"

Into this scene walked a snorting Ezio. "What a baby. Ilia, dear, won't you brighten my day with your illuminating presence? I reckon you would rather spend your invaluable time with me rather than this sobbing Chu."

"I... Ehh." Ilia began uncomfortably.

"Who are you calling a sobbing Chu? He? You are always no hat and no cattle!" Link shouted, jumping to his feet. "Ilia and I were having a great time until you showed up, snotty little upstart!"

"To me it looked as if the fair maiden was bothered by your lowly presence, shepherd!"

"Oh! I'll show you what this shepherd is capable of! Bring it on!"

Link fell into a defensive stance, motioning for Ezio to begin the fight. None to dismiss a challenge Ezio sprung into action, only to be stopped by Ilia who grabbed the ears of the boys to interrupt the fighting.

"Stop it you hotheads!" Ilia shouted pulling the two cockorels own by their ears.

"Ouch! Stop it, Ilia. Please?"

"My sensitive ear, my golden maiden. Would you be gracious enough to let go of my greatest hunting tool?"

Ilia, however, would have none of that and pulled Link and Ezio to the shore of the pond behind the pumpkin field. "It's time for the two of you to cool your tempers." She had stated before she threw them into the cold water.

Sputtering they surfaced. Ezio's teeth were shaking and Link had a mischievous glint in his eyes. Quickly, he got hold of Ilia's ankle and pulled the squealing girl into the water. Chuckling at Ilia, who looked like a drenched dog, he did not notice Ezio approaching him from behind. Said hunterboy was fuming since Link had just pulled a helpless lady into the water so he dunked Link under water as revenge. "How dare you do that to a beautiful lady!"

As Link resurfaced Ilia splashed him in the face. "Take that!"

Link tried to evade the splash but the ground was slippery and he found himself immersed in water again. While the other two were laughing at his misfortune, Link jumped at the opportunity: he dived towards them and pulled them under water by snatching their ankles thus pulling them under water, too.

"Not only once, but twice!" Ezio shouted after he had resurfaced. "I challenge you to a fair fight!"

Ilia's eyes widened. "Don't you two fight again!"

Ezio, however, held his hand in a pacifying matter. "My dear Ilia, this is a fight of honor between two men. I will gladly fight for your honor, too."

"Yeah, Ilia. Just wait I'll teach this kid some respect. Tomorrow, sunrise on Ordon Ranch." Link smiled confidently.

Ilia shook her head and sighed. "Boys will be boys. Just don't come crying to me when one of you is hurt."

"No sweat. I won't hurt him that bad." Link chuckled.

* * *

Uli's house

Sephiria was cooing innocently as Ilia was staring down at the baby in her arms. She was amazed by the resemblance little Sephirira had when compared to her dad. However she also had some features Ilia couldn't place. Her eyebrows had a rather elegant touch to them and so did her cheekbones. The baby's skin was soft compared to the rough hands her father had gotten due to his work and his quest. The eyes, however were the just same as Link's eyes- a deep sparkling blue.

"And aren't you the cutest thing I've ever laid my eyes on?" Ilia asked giggling. "I'm your auntie Ilia and I'm so going to spoil you. I'll teach you all the girly stuff there is to need to know since your daddy is incompartible with female matters because he is such a boy. Just now he got into a fight with Ezio who by the way is quite charming. Your daddy is as annoying as ever."

"Hey! How come only the spoiled hunting kid gets the praise?" Link voiced after stepping next to Ilia. Sephiria kicked exited recognizing Link's voice. "Hello, Sephiria. When daddy is going to show Ezio what Hyrule's hero is made of, daddy can't look after you. Do you think you'll be okay with your aunt Ilia?"

The only response Link got was a slobbering mess. Laughing Ilia wiped Sephiria's mouth clean. "You know they still don't know you are the hero."

"That's not my fault. They never asked!" Link laughed.

Ilia smiled. "Do you remember they came here because they thought it was safer with you around?"

"Yeah! While building a house and getting a baby boy they probably forget about it. Still, it's quite funny they came because of me and stayed because they liked it here." Link rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Then he got a great idea and chuckled mischievously. "Imagine the look on Ezio's face when he realizes I am the hero."

"You are mean!" Ilia tried to hide her grin.

"Link are you really going to tell them you are the hero?" Colin asked exited. He had been sitting on the floor with Ruth.

"Well, someday they have to know so why not today?" Link thought out loud.

"You show-off! You only want to embarrass Ezio!" Ilia stated. "Although I've got to admit it would be easier if Ezio and his family knew about you."

"Can I watch, too, Link?" Colin asked standing up from his spot next to Ruth.

"Of course!" Link smiled noticing Sephiria yawn cutely and took Sephiria from Ilia. "But now it's napping time! Are you ready?"

Sephiria just snuggled closer to Link's chest earning a deep chuckle from her dad. Rocking his daughter gently he said his good-byes quietly and went home. The ladders weren't as much of an obstacle as before but Link decided that he would need a solution to get Sephiria up comfortably soon. Fortunately, Sephiria didn't awake from her slumber so Link could tuck her in quickly.

"Sleep well, little sunshine." Link whispered planting a soft kiss on Sephiria's forehead. Watching his daughter sleeping in his -compared to her little frame- huge bed, he decided he would need to build a cradle, too.

"perhaps I should make a list." Link chuckled making his way downstairs to the kitchen. "Let's see. Modifications to the house, a cradle... Hmm some toys, I guess." He continued his list as he made his way towards his cupboards to fix himself something to eat. Opening the cupboard he concluded his list. "Oh and some milk."

Next to a bottle of milk found a piece of cheese, a jar of pumpkin-mush which he decided was expired after smelling the foul smell, an apple, some berries and half a loaf of bread. "I'll need to go fishing if I want anything special soon."

Sighing he tossed the pumpking-mush away and put the empty jar on top of the ever-growing mountain of dirty dishes. "Also, I have to do the dishes."

Link cut the bread, put some cheese on the pieces and added red berries to the mix to make the plain cheese sandwich somewhat special. The apple he decided would be his emergency food, in case he forgot to go fishing in the evening.

As Link enjoyed his meal he began to think how he should rebuild his house.

The basement, he decided, seemed like the sensible choice as a nursery since it was on ground-level. He would need to add a door and some windows but he could manage to do that easily, provided someone else helped him. All his stuff would have to go. The only question was where.

"It would be clever to swap my bed with the chest. That way I'm near Sephiria in case she wakes up." Link said to himself. "When she gets older we will just have to improvise. Perhaps I should expand the house. We will need the extra room, especially when Midna..."

Link stopped his enthusiastic rant and corrected himself in his mind. '_If Midna comes back. If Zelda finds some way to link Twilight and Hyrule again. Even then it will be complicated. The reason she isn't here is that she is the princess. A princess who has duties to her country and people. How do Sephiria and I fit in that picture? I don't have a fortune or land. I'm just the hero, a hyrulian hero, one of those people who casted them aside and let them rot in the shadows. How can our family ever be accepted? We will for ever be seperated.' _

Trying to cast his dark thoughts away he listened Sephiria's soft breathing. "At least Sephiria is here with me." That moment a terrifying thought hit Link.

_'Midna is all alone.'_

A lone tear travelled over Link's cheek as he imagined the lonliness without family, friends and the sunshine in the dark, huge and empty castle surrounded by lecherous councillors greedy for fortune, fame and power. There had to be a way to free Midna from that cold lonliness! Determined he added another point to his list -get Midna out of there!

* * *

Ordon village

Beth was running into her mother's shop only coming to a stop when she nearly collided with the counter.

"Mom, you wouldn't believe what Colin just told me! I'm so exited!" She was breathing hard and staring at her mother with anticipation.

Sera just smiled. "Dear, calm down and then you can tell me what is so important."

While Beth tried to get her breathing under control, Sera petted her purring cat.

Taking one deep breath Beth began telling her mother the news. "Link is going to have a match with Ezio tomorrow morning on the Ranch, he wants to reveal he is the hero to Ezio. I want to see his face at the news. Can I go?"

"Of course, sweetie. If that's all go outside to play again."

"No, that's not all!" Beth shook her head. "Link's got a daughter!"

"There isn't a female cat in the village Link here likes to play with." Sera told her daughter petting her cat she had named Link. "Right, sweetie?"

Beth shook her head. "No not cat-Link, human-Link!"

This made Sera stop her motions. Wide-eyed she regarded her own daughter. "Now, sweetie. What did I tell you about making stuff up?"

"But it's the truth! Colin told me! If you don't believe it, you can come, too." Beth suggested.

Sera thought about that. "Well, I just might do that."

"Good! I need to go back to Colin and the others now!" Beth stated and took off running again. Link, the cat, also took off running since he was hoping to catch a fish by himself.

Still lost in thought Sera only shouted. "Be back for dinner!"

* * *

Link's treehouse

Link had just finished doing the dishes when someone pounded loudly on his door.

"Link? Open up!" The voice identified the man as Mayor Bo.

Link threw the wet cloth over a chair and opened the door. "Mayor Bo." He smiled. "How was your trip?"

"Good." He answered trying to look behind Link. "It seems we have a new girl in town named Rian, she is Ezio's sister and got lost on the way here. If you ask me that girl has a terrible sense of direction, told me she was at Zora spring before finding her way to us."

Again, Mayor Bo tried to look inside the treehouse. "But that's not why I'm here, Link. I heard there is another new addition to the village from Ilia." He sheepishly scratched his nose. "Err, well Ilia, she... She said you had a daughter. It's so sudden and you know girls..."

Link smiled and opened the door wider, wide enough for Mayor Bo to enter. "You wouldn't believe it but sometimes they don't exaggerate."

Bo froze. "Really? You are a dad?"

"Yes." Link laughed at Mayor Bo's disbelieving face.

"And you are not pulling my leg?"

"No, I'm not." Link said giving the mayor a glass of water. Bo was staring at Link trying comprehend what Link had just told him. Link was calmly nipping his own glass of water waiting for Bo to regain his composure.

"I don't believe you. This has to be a joke Ilia and you thought of. Is this the revenge for the prank I played on you when you were kids? I swear I'm sorry for eating the pumpkin-cookies!"

Link blinked. "So that was you! Ilia and I didn't talk to each other for one week!"

"You didn't know?" Bo asked.

"No, I'm telling the truth! Sephiria is sleeping upstairs." Link stated. "Do you want to see her?"

Bo nodded.

"Good. But we need to be quiet." Link said standing up from his chair. As silent as a young hero and an over-sized mayor could be they sneaked towards Link's bed. Sephiria was still sleeping like a baby.

Mayor Bo couldn't believe his eyes. "But how?" He whispered.

Link gave him a look. "You don't expect me to explain that question to you."

Bo's face reddened. "No. I meant how hadn't anyone noticed it? It is quite obvious when a woman is pregnant."

"Well, she wasn't exactly here." Link replied vaguely.

"Then who is the kid's mom?" Bo asked. "Don't tell me... You and princess Zelda? Oh goddesses! Of course, for what other reason would you ride off in such a hurry after getting a letter from her highness?"

Link blushed. "Why does everyone think Zelda and I are a pair?"

"Well, both of you have a piece of the Triforce and you kinda saved her and Hyrule from Ganondorf. I guess there should be feelings between the two of you. At least half of the village thought you were depressed because Zelda couldn't marry you because of her status." Bo saw Link's disbelieving look. "So you are not in love?"

"No. We are just good friends. Midna was my companion on my quest." Link replied looking at Sephiria fondly with a smile. "She was always there."

"Midna. So that's her name. Okay. So where is she?"

Link didn't have to answer since Sephiria chose that moment to open her blue eyes. A look of discomfort was in her eyes, she wiggled around and cried.

Quickly, Link was kneeling beside the bed. "Shhh, Sephiria. Shhh, daddy is here." Link comforted the crying baby, Sephiria calmed down a little hearing the familiar voice.

"Now what's the problem." He asked taking Sephiria. He noticed she was a little wet. "So you don't like the wet diaper? Let's change that."

Bo who had been standing uncomfortably behind them, cleared his throat. "Well, I'd better be going now. Ilia is waiting with lunch at home. Erm, see you!" He bolted down the ladder and closed the door behind him.

Link rose an eyebrow at his behavior. "You would think he never witnessed a diaper-change, right Sephiria?"

Sephiria's sniffles had diminished after seeing the strange man do funny things. Her mood grew even better when she felt the sticky diaper disappear.

Her dad had fetched a fishing-pole from a corner and told her. "Now, we are going to catch daddy some delicious fishies and go get some milk for you, Sephiria."

* * *

Ordon village

As Link and Sephiria made their way through the village to Link's favourite fishing spot, another Link sneaked stealthily after them on his four paws. His slitted eyes had spotted the magic-stick that could pull fish out of the water with ease. As far as our furry friend Link was considered every day his human namesake took the magic stick with him was a good day. The human with the shaggy blond hair was a great fisher and cat-Link was a great thief.

To cat-Link it seemed as if the blond fisher-but-sometimes-wolf-human was talking to himself. That was really strange considering the blond human had never talked much. Now, he couldn't stop. He told himself about fish and milk, he also explained where the other humans lived and how the humans called each other.

"And this is the pond!" He said. "You can do many things here. Here we can go swimming in the water when it's very hot or push Ezio in. He is a jerk! Never believe anything he says! Another great thing to do here is fishing. It's very relaxing and you get free food isn't that great? Oh, well, right now you can't eat fish, but milk is also delicious, right?"

Cat-Link also agreed with that statement. Fish and milk were also his favourites. He had hidden between two pumpkins and observed the actions of the human Link.

Link had arrived at his fishing spot and laid Sephiria next to him on the ground. He would need a cradle like Uli had, he decided so that Sephiria wouldn't need to lie on the ground when he was fishing or watching the goats.

Right now the blankets would have to do. Link cast the fishing-pole and sat down next to his daughter while he waited for a fish to find the bait.

After a while he cleared his throat. "You know your mommy and I used to do this very often." Link chuckled. "She was always splashing water around with her feet and scared the fish away, because she hated sitting still."

Link smiled sadly. Sephiria gurgled happy at the attention. Then Link felt a pull, a fish had been caught. With practised ease he pulled the fishing-pole so that soon a fish was floating in front of him. He caught a Greengill aand it was 12 inches long.

"That was a piece of goatcheese!" Link exclaimed, put the fish down next to himself and tried his luck again.

Cat-Link knew this was his chance. Stealthily, he crept up to the delicious treat. Now there was nothing between him and a fishlicious meal. However, this time there was a pair of eyes watching the fish. When they saw the strange new moving thing, Sephiria noised her curiosity. "Dwah!"

Link averted his attention and saw Sera's cat trying to steal his fish again. "Oh no. Not this time."

Quickly he took his dinner and held the fish out of reach. "Catch your own fish, Link."

Cat-Link meowed disappointed.

"Tough luck, pal." Link laughed.

In the end Link had two fish for dinner and was about to get some milk for Sephiria. They had just passed Mayor Bo's house when Ilia came after them.

"Hey, Link! Wait!"

Link stopped and turned around. "Hey. What is it?"

"My dad, it's really strange, he came home for lunch and declared he wasn't hungry. That has never happened before." Ilia seemed disturbed, then she whispered. "I think he is sick."

Link remembered the last time he had seen the mayor and laughed. "Well, I don't think he is ill. I think it's partly Sephiria's fault he didn't feel hungry. When he visited, I had to change Sephiria's diaper and you wouldn't believe how fast your old man can run."

Now Ilia laughed, too. "So the brave sumo-wrestler of Ordon has found his match, a full diaper." She held a basket towards Link. "Anyway, I packed the rests of our lunch for you. I even added some milk knowing your empty cupboards all too well."

"Hey! I wasn't prepared to serve a grand dinner that evening. I lost a bet and I never thought you wanted me to serve you dinner because of something like a lost bet!" He took the basket. "Thanks."

Ilia nodded. "Yes. Now, I know what to wish for if you lose another bet. I'll make you surrender Epona for a whole day, just to see you trying to herd the goats all by yourself. Why can't you be more like Ezio? He would have prepared a splendid dinner for me."

"Well that's because he is a girl at heart. Tomorrow, I'll show him who is the boss." Link retorted.

"I don't think so." Ilia shook her head. "You may be the hero but Ezio has a better reason to fight in your stupid competition."

"Want to bet that even although he wants to protect your pride he will lose?" Link asked challengingly holding a hand out.

Ilia took the offered hand. "Of course. If I win, you will give me Epona for a whole day, so that we can have a girl's day: shopping, talking, beauty, relaxing and riding."

Link smiled. "And if I win you will do the cooking for a week."

Ilia considered this. "That's fair! Prepare to lose, Link!"

"Never! Now I have the best reason to fight there is. Delicious home-cooking from my best friend for a whole week!" Link laughed and took off. Sephiria squealed at the quick pace and Link's laugh intensified. "You like that, Sephiria? Just wait and see how fast I can be!

Ilia was left standing with a disbelieving smile on her lips. "It's good to have you back, Link."

* * *

That was it!

Question Corner!

**This chapter**

What is a chu? Well it's that slimy blob which comes out of the ground to attack you.

What do you think is going to happen in the competition? I'm still open for suggestions although I already got some ideas!

**Your reviews!**

And will link ever tell his friends about his wolf form? (leomonta)

Well, it is his secret and I think when Link is trying to hide his secret it adds some suspense... However, everyone knows that even the best kept secret will come out someday. For now I still want to have some fun with it!

Well, you guys don't ask that many questions, so I don't have much to do here right!

Review as much as you want! I love reading all of you guy's support! It makes my day and I get really happy for every little word!


	20. Chapter 19

Sorry yadda yadda. You know the speech that goes here. I'm just happy you are putting up with my late chapters.

The Story Continues!

The dawn of the match between Ezio and Link was truly magnificent. Trees were swaying to the melody of the early birds and the village was already bustling with life. Word had gotten around the forest, even Coro the lantern guy came. The kids were exited to see some action. Talo hadn't been able to sleep until his mother got him some warm milk to calm him down.

The whole village was present when Ezio marched proudly towards Ordon Ranch just as the sun's rays peeked over the horizon.

Ilia couldn't help the blush. Ezio looked really majestic. A dark silhouette surrounded by a golden glow. Ezio smiled proudly at his entrance, the villagers cheered. Smugly he stroked his hair and turned around with a flourishing gesture that sent sparkles flying. The kids were estatic.

"Look! He is sparkling." Beth shouted elated.

Ilia giggled.

Satisfied Ezio nodded to himself, he had planned this perfectly. Coughing slightly to get the attention, he began his well practiced speech. "Dear people of Ordon! I, the gallant Ezio, have risen to fight the injustice I withnessed only yesterday. I was shocked to see our dear beloved Ilia humiliated before my very own eyes. Throwing a lady into a pond is unforgivable. That's why I will defend the lady's honor by defeating the perpetrator. Link, do you have anything to say in your defense? I feel generous enough to let you explain yourself!"

The trees continued swaying to the bird's melody, however there was no answer from our hero. Awkward silence was the word to describe this situation. To Ezio's chagrin it was Bo who shouted a response. "Sorry, Ezio, but Link is not here, yet. You were a little too early with your speech. But I'm sure if you wait a little he will show up."

Embarrassed by this hasty mistake Ezio spoke. "Ah, so the scaredy-cat decided not to show up."

"He probably slept in." Colin whispered sighing.

* * *

The sun's rays caressed Link's skin. Grumbling, he turned around. "Just five more minutes."

Link loved the warm feeling of sun on his skin early in the morning but being a shepherd and hero he didn't get very much of that. Fortunately, he had the day free because of the match before dawn.

"It's morning!" Link shot out of bed, waking Sephiria in the process.

Sephiria not an early riser as well wasn't happy about the rough waking. "Waaaaahh!"

"Shh. I'm sorry." Feeling guilty Link cradled the infant and hummed Zelda's lullaby while climbing down to the kitchen. "How about milk as apology?" Link whispered as Sephiria had calmed down. He took the bottle and put the milk over the still glowing embers. Grabbing the lantern he went to the basement to get his tunic, the training sword and the Hyrule Shield. Balancing Sephiria on his right arm and his equipment on the left, he got to the kitchen just in time for the warm milk.

"Let's see if it's ready for my little princess." Link checked the temperature and deemed it fit for consumption. "Here you go, Sephiria!"

Sephiria greedily reached out for the bottle and put her tiny hand on Link's. Smiling Link looked at his daughter still not believing he was a father. "Daddy is still so irresponsible, but I promise I'll improve. Now I am late for that match. A great first impression, right? But don't worry daddy will kick Ezio's... Erm. Daddy will win for sure! Then I won't have to cook for a whole week and daddy will build you your own bed so daddy will never wake you like this morning again!"

Sephiria finished her bottle and after a cute burp, Link got dressed in record time. Not having time to climb the ladder, Link jumped down while Sephiria was delighted. "Daaaah!"

"Faster?" Link asked and took off towards Ordon Ranch.

Link was amazed when he got there. The whole village was there crowded around a stall selling drinks with the unmistakeable logo of Malo. Link chuckled. "Always the businessman, huh?

Ezio was telling everyone about his heroic adventures but Link could see the children were beginning to get bored while the adults listened politely. Also the new girl Rian who was yawning unimpressed, was there. She seemed familiar, Link just couldn't put his finger on it. She had a green eye, the other one was bandaged. Her brown hair was pulled into a ponytail... Link shrugged.

"Oy, look who finally showed up!" Talo shouted jumping up and down.

"Link!" Beth shouted and blushed seeing his hero's garb. "You look soooo handsome!"

"Got yourself finally out of bed, I see." Mayor Bo's voice boomed.

The new girl took his as her cue to stand up. She ran towards Link and offered her hand eagerly. "My name's Rian, you already know my family." At this point Chiara waved kindly while she cradled Ricardo gently and Branko just nodded. "And you are Link... Wait! I know you! You are the guy who pointed me towards Ordon when

I was lost. I'm soo grateful for that!" She stopped and looked down at Sephiria. "Awwww! She is sooo cute! Is she yours? May I hold her?"

Overwhelmed by Rian's excitement, Link just nodded. In a flash Sephiria was out of his arms and hoisted up by Rian!

"This is sooooo cool, not only little Ricardo to play with but also this adorable little baby as well!" Rian shouted.

Sephiria however was scared of this strange loud woman and began crying loudly. Rian stopped dead in her tracks. "What do I do? What do I do?" Her gaze fell on Link again and offered him the infant. "I'm sorry for upsetting her!"

Link just sighed and made a mental note not to let Rian too close to his daughter. "Shh. It's okay, Sephiria." Link whispered and rocked his daughter back and forth until she calmed down.

The villagers were silent, then Sera broke the silence. "Well, it seems that Beth didn't make that up. She is really adorable, you'll be a great dad, Link. Congratulations!"

Smiling the other villagers joined in, except Ezio. At first he was disappointed that he wasn't center of the attention anymore. After some seconds of being offended, he registered the baby in Link's arms and became confused. Wanting to get a better look at the mysterious little child he drew nearer, until he finally noticed Link's clothes.

Gaping he sweated profusly, but then he tried to encourage himself and whispered. "Now he thinks he's the most liked man in the village. Dressing like the hero, che. showoff."

After most of the villagers were done cooing over little Sephiria, Chiara also noticed Link's clothes. "Oh, Link. Isn't this the Hero's Tunic? It couldn't possibly be, that you...?"

Link was blushing furiously and scratched the back of his neck. "Well nobody ever asked... But, yeah, I defeated Ganondorf."

Silence, again. Then a dull thus could be heard. The villagers turned around to see the source of the sound. Ezio had fainted.

"Does this mean I win?" Link asked, looking forward to eating Ilia's cooking.

Ilia wouldn't have any of that. "Both of you wanted a fair match and you will do it. I didn't get up so early, only to wait for you and Ezio to faint! You should have told them earlier!" She proclaimed loudly, the other villagers were nodding.

"But, Link, is it really true?" Chiara asked with worry. Link just nodded. "But you are so young and now also a father! How can you do this all alone?"

"Well, I was never alone."

"Yeah!" Talo exclaimed. "In Ordon we are a big family and that means Seph has a really big family, right?"

Uli nodded. "Yes. Whenever Link needs help we will be there for him, just like he helped us."

At first Chiara was silent, then she smiled. "Well, then I hope Ricardo and Sephiria will become great friends!"

"Don't forget Ruth!" Colin interjected.

"Of course not." Chiara said.

"Well, I think I like it here! This whole family thing here is great!" Rian exclaimed, throwing an arm over Ilia's shoulder. "Right, Ilia?"

Ilia just sighed and pulled Rian's arm away. "Yes, but I think we should look after Ezio, he's just fainted."

* * *

It took some time to wake Ezio from his self-induced unconsciousness. His mother tried to wake him with words. "Ezio, darling, wake up. I made you your favorite breakfast. I even cut off the bread crusts for you honey."

Rian wasn't a patient person like her mother and slapped him while shouting. "Lazy donkey! Get up and fight like a man!"

Ilia also whispered something into Ezio's ear but he just mumbled something incoherently and drooled a little.

Uli had some of her pumpkin cookies with her however even their heavenly scent couldn't wake Ezio up.

In the mean time Colin and Beth had gone to get a bucket of cold water from the stream.

"They make a great team." Rusl muttered softly. Link agreed with a nod.

"Okay, on three." Colin and Beth announced. "One, two, three!" Link snickered a little as the two of them threw its content into Ezio's face.

Sputtering, Ezio jumped and shouted. "I will win for Ilia!"

Sephiria squealed at his funny face and tried reaching towards the bucket.

Ilia shifted slightly as Beth asked. "Even if your opponent defeated Ganondorf?"

Ezio froze and stared at Link who just stood there and regarded his opponent with a superior gaze. "Yes. Even if it costs my life!"

Ilia was speechless and blushing a little. Then she suggested nervously. "Let's hope it won't get that far."

Mayor Bo nodded. "Now that everybody finally is able to compete, we'll have to decide in which kind of contest Link and Ezio will be fighting. I recommend sumo wrestling!"

Beth blushed at the image of the two young only wearing their shorts. Colin noticed this and shouted. "We're always doing that. Let's have them have a sword fight."

Chiara clearly worried for her son was against this. "Isn't that a little dangerous? What about a horse race?"

"Naw, mum. Those two have to prove themselves and not which of their horses is the best." Rian said.

Fado, who had been quiet the whole time, took this moment to give his opinion. "They could herd the sheep and see who gets more inside the barn."

"You just don't want to do your work, Fado! And on top of that Link would have an even bigger advantage." Sera said. "I vote for a fishing contest. My cute darling Link has begged me the morning for some fish!"

"What about archery?" Ilia asked. "It's something both of them are good at and it's not too dangerous."

"Dear Ilia, the danger doesn't matter if I can protect your honor facing the odds."

"I think Ilia is right." Rusl stated. "You okay with this, Link?"

"Well she is the one who will be cooking for me after I win, so it's her decision." Link said with a shrug.

Ezio sighed quietly and coughed. "Then it's decided. I, the heroic Ezio, will face Link in the art of archery. Link! I hope you ate your carrots since you'll need eyes matching an eagle if you wish to defeat the gallant Ezio!"

The girls clapped and Beth laughed. "At least his speeches are better than Link's!"

"Well I don't think anyone can lose to Link if it's about holding a speech."

* * *

While the two competitors warmed themselves up, the men of Ordon constructed some targets and the women looked after little Sephiria, Ruth and Ricardo.

"The three of them are soo adorable!" Beth squealed and glanced over to Colin who was rolling a huge hay bale into the corner of the ranch. "When I'm older I also want such a cute baby!"

Ilia just nodded. "I think a family of my own would be great! I could move out of dad's house and I'll never have to wash his sweaty pants again!"

"If you continue ogling Ezio the way you do. You would just have to wash Ezio's sweaty shirts, Ilia. Trust me you are better off single." Rian chimed. "Seriously, my brother is a douche!"

"Ehh?" Ilia was blushing madly and sputtered. "Ezio? No way! Who gave you that idea?"

"You!" Rian laughed. "How cute! You are even trying so hard to deny it! Ilia and Ezio sitting in a tree..."

"Shut up!" Ilia barked and tackled Rian to the ground.

The women giggled. "Aww, to be young again."

"We are ready here!" Rusl shouted.

Indeed, the ranch had been turned into a shooting course. There were ten scarecrows positioned everywhere. Some were hiding behind obstacles, others were so far away that the women had to squint to see them. There were also two hay bale with colourful circles drawn on them.

"Wow!" Beth shouted. "This is amazing! You guys were so fast! And those hay bale! Who could have been strong enough to roll them here!"

Colin blushed a little, then looked away shyly.

Rusl chuckled. "Are you boys ready?"

Link was still stretching but nodded anyway and pulled his bow out of the magical bag.

"Why, of course!" Ezio shouted. "Ilia watch me when I beat him!"

Ilia blushed and laughed. "Of course! If you don't beat Link I'll have to cook for him! Show him that sitting on his lazy ass for the last months got him out of shape!"

"See, he likes you and you like him, too!" Rian whispered into Ilia's ear.

"Shut up!" Ilia shouted and got ready to punch Rian. Rian, however, ducked and jumped away laughing loudly.

Link was a little annoyed that Ilia thought he was out of shape. Sure he had lost some muscle in the last months but that was only natural since he wasn't running around Hyrule anymore to beat Ganondorf.

"You can go first." Ezio offered. Link just shrugged and took aim.

The steady sounds of arrows hitting home accompanies the ever rising eye brows of the villagers. It didn't take long until Link hit every target.

"Wow Link! I knew you were good! But I didn't know this good!" Bo shouted. Link just smiled, put his bow away and went to join the spectators.

"That was awesome!" Rian congratulated.

"Link! You are so cool!" Beth squealed.

Link chuckled and went to Ilia. "Well I guess I won't have to worry about cooking for a whole week."

Ilia just gave him his daughter, who was elated to push her fingers into Link's nostrils.

"Hey! I'm happy to see you, too, sunshine. But please, get your fingers out of my nose!" Link laughed.

Everyone chuckled.

"Well I guess it's my turn." Ezio announced sweating and went where Link had stood before to shoot.

"You've got to say he has guts. After seeing that I wouldn't even bother trying." Fado mumbled.

"I think his pride just forbids him to give up." Rian laughed.

Ezio took a deep breath, concentrated on his target and let the arrow fly. He let out a relieved sigh, when it hit its target head on. Link was slightly impressed when the other arrows also hit the targets. In a real battle situation Ezio would have already been ripped apart by various creatures, but this wasn't a battle so he had all the time in the world to take aim.

In the end Ezio had also hit every target. Now everyone wondered who had won this little competition. It was clear that Link's performance far outstretched Ezio's but nobody had set rules incase both of them hit every target.

"I guess it's a tie." Ilia shrugged somewhat relieved.

The villagers agreed.

Link sighed, his dinner problem wasn't solved, but even he had to say he was quite impressed by Ezio's performance. He had clearly underestimated the spoiled hunter.

"You are really good at this." Link praised and offered a hand to shake.

"Yeah." Ezio mumbled and shook Link's hand, still not believing Hyrule's hero stood before him and was impressed by his shooting. And it was even harder to believe that said hero was the annoying shepherd of Ordon village.

Ilia smiled at their interaction. Finally, they could stand each other's presence without starting a huge quarrel. Also she didn't have to cook for Link and she felt really special since Ezio won -at leat he did in her perspective- just for her.

Ezio turned to face Ilia. "I'm very sorry, dear Ilia. I need to train harder so I can protect your honor for real in the future!"

Ilia smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry. You already have."

Link just raised an eyebrow at his friend's behavior. Seeing Sephiria yawn he excused himself. "Have fun you two! Sephiria needs her nap now."

* * *

Whuho! Finally those two knucklehead dunked it out. Well, you know the deal. Review and stuff. I would love some encouragements, critic and questions so I know what hasn't bevome clear to you guys, yet.

See ya!


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